Doing Well

F.cenchroides at Wyvuri Station, North Queensland (Bendon, 2013).

                The Australian kestrel, Falco cenchroides also called the nankeen kestrel is a species of kestrel that’s endemic to Australia and the lower part of New Guinea (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). With a population estimated at up to and quite possibly beyond 750,000 breeding pairs, which means about 1.5 million mature adults (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001), it is one of two most abundant diurnal raptor in Australia (the other being Falco berigora, the brown falcon) and the population could well be increasing (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). The success of the Australian kestrel has a bit to do with human activity, unlike most species which are negatively impacted by current levels of urbanisation and human expansion (Chace and Walsh, 2006) F.cenchroides thrive quite well with the clearing of forests, which opens up feeding ground for them and adapts well to habitats affected and altered by humans including architecture (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001).

                Raptors such as kestrels often have large home ranges extending beyond urban areas which means their ecological needs can be met by resources from both outside and within urban areas (Chace and Walsh, 2006). Urban development usually means an increase in biomass but decrease in biodiversity, the decrease in prey choice is an issue to many predators, however F.cenchroides’s diverse diet of small birds, mammals, insects, reptiles and unusually for raptors, spiders allow them to succeed (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). The majority of prey taken are small birds such as Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) when they are numerous (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001) which can be found in many urban centres.

                But we have to remember, that some species are doing well from human impacts but many more are not (Chace and Walsh, 2006). But looking at these urban dwellers we can get a picture of what a more urbanised future can look like around the world.

BENDON, J. 2013. Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) at Wyvuri Station, North Queensland. Flickr.

CHACE, J. F. & WALSH, J. J. 2006. Urban effects on native avifauna: a review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 74, 46-69.

FERGUSON-LEES, J. & CHRISTIE, D. A. 2001. Raptors of the world, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.