Diet of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in Israel
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Date
2012
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
The food of the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) was studied by means of pellet contents
analysis. A total of 645 entire pellets was collected, 550 pellets from the urban area of Jerusalem,
71 pellets from a rural area (a farmland) in Alona Region, 12 pellets from a natural area in
the Judean Desert and 12 pellets from a quarry near Rosh Hain. Grasshoppers (Orthoptera), beetles
(Coleoptera) and sun spiders (Solifugae) constituted the bulk of the diet. Numerically, grasshoppers
and beetles were almost equally important (38.5% and 42.2% respectively), while sun
spiders were much less numerous (11.7%). However, in terms of biomass, grasshoppers (54.7%)
were far more important than beetles (18.8%) and sun spiders (20.6%). Four beetle families, viz.
Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Curculionidae and Tenebrionidae, comprised together 76.8% of all beetle
prey items and 81.6% of beetle biomass. Among grasshoppers, the most important family
(64.6% by numbers of prey items, 70.4% by grasshopper biomass) was the locusts (Acrididae).
Significant month-to-month variations in the proportion of the main prey groups have been recorded.
From February to April the Lesser Kestrel fed mainly on beetles, while from May to July it
fed mainly on grasshoppers and sun spiders. Beetles and sun spiders comprised a much lower
proportion of prey in 1998 (low rainfall) than in 1999 (high rainfall), while the proportion of
grasshoppers and other invertebrates (altogether) was higher in 1998 than in 1999
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Keywords
Diet, Solifugae, Cetoniinae, variation in diet, Jerusalem
Citation
Kopij, G. 2012. Diet of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in Israel. Zoology in the Middle East, 55, 27-34.http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09397140.2012.10648914