Malagasy Kestrel (Falco newtoni)
About the Malagasy Kestrel
The Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni), also known as the Madagascar kestrel, Malagasy spotted kestrel, Newton's kestrel, Madagascar spotted kestrel, katiti (Creole) or hitsikitsika (Malagasy), is a small bird of prey of the genus Falco. It is named after British ornithologist Edward Newton. It occurs in two subspecies on Madagascar and at Aldabra. The race from Aldabra is also called Aldabra kestrel (Falco newtoni aldabranus). Its closest living relative is the Seychelles kestrel; they were at one time considered conspecific. Their common ancestors appear to have diverged very recently, probably less than 1 million years ago during the Early or Middle Pleistocene. The Mauritius kestrel is more distantly related (Groombridge et al. 2002).
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 21 recordings for this species: 12 CC BY-NC-ND · 9 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Madagascar in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- American KestrelFalco sparveriusrecording
- Amur FalconFalco amurensisrecording
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculusrecording
- Eurasian HobbyFalco subbuteorecording
- MerlinFalco columbariusrecording
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.