Kestrel behaviour.

Wild-Woman · #1 (**permalink**) 01-03-2009, 06:41 AM

We saw something quite exciting yesterday. After hearing a call above our heads, we spotted a female Kestrel high up, circling a pylon that we'd just walked beneath. Then a male arrived on the scene....and then another male!
We'd hadn't ever seen kestrels together like this. They whirled around above the pylon together, almost making contact physically then the female settled onto one of the arms of the pylon and a male swiftly joined her whilst the other circled. A very swift mating then ensued (something else we've never seen before) and then all three flew off together.
My question is, why 3 together, is one of the male kestrels (the one that didn't mate her) likely to be last year's offspring? I'm puzzled.

The Woodman · #2 (**permalink**) 01-03-2009, 07:00 AM

Falcon love!

Could it be that the other male was attracted by the courtship behaviour and the dominant bird won the favours of the female.

aeshna5 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-03-2009, 03:53 PM

I watched a pair of Kestrels mating last Sunday on a local nature reserve where I do WeBS counts; they normally breed in a cavity of 1 of the poplars, which for the first time a pair of Jackdaws has also had their eyes on!

Wild-Woman · #4 (**permalink**) 01-03-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeshna5

I watched a pair of Kestrels mating last Sunday on a local nature reserve where I do WeBS counts; they normally breed in a cavity of 1 of the poplars, which for the first time a pair of Jackdaws has also had their eyes on!

So two separate bird species going for the same property. I wonder who'll get their deposit down first.