Known from subfossil bones and the writings of Dubois published in 1674, this bird was larger than its relative F. punctatus on Mauritius, being about the size of a common kestrel, or around 35 cm from head to tail, with males being noticeably smaller than females. This trait, while present in most birds of prey, is most pronounced in the larger, bird-eating species and reduces between-sex competition by niche differentiation. It can be assumed that the bird was of the same generally brownish coloration as its closest relatives, with a lighter underside and darker spots or stipples, the tail, brown or more probably grey, being banded and tipped black. Its feet were yellow and large relative to the bird's overall size. The wingspan was 60–70 cm, its wings being more rounded than those of the common kestrel - just as in the Mauritius bird - for increased maneuvrability when hunting in the forest. It is probable, but not certain, that the only difference between the sexes was their size. The bird fed mainly on birds, but certainly also on insects and the local gecko; Dubois noted that despite their small size they were able to prey on domestic chickens.
Extinction
Dubois mentioned three kinds of birds of prey extant on Réunion in the early 1670s: in order of decreasing size, papangues (the local marsh harrier which still exists), pieds jaunes ("yellow-feet") and émerillons (a term for small falcons like the merlin). It is not quite clear what name refers to the Réunion kestrel. From reviewing the evidence, the bird was most probably the émerillon, with the pieds jaunes being either migrant falcons (the only species that might occur in the area, the sooty falcon, Eleonora's falcon and the peregrine falcon, are larger than F. duboisi was, if not in overall length, then at least in wingspan) or the juveniles of the marsh harrier, which are distinctly colored and also have yellow feet. The latter explanation seems more likely as the name was unequivocally applied to young marsh harriers in the late 19th century. Nonetheless, it seems remotely possible that the Réunion falcon's sexes were not only of different size, but also differently colored. In this case, the males would be the émerillons and the females the pieds jaunes.
This seems not likely, however, as Jean Feuilley in 1705 only mentions papangues and pieds jaunes as extant. The extinction of the Réunion kestrel, which thus seems to have been complete around 1700, is something of a mystery, just as that of the Réunion scops owl. Introduced predators were not present in numbers at that time and even rats probably would not have presented much of a problem for the birds. Certainly, they were considered a pest as they fed on poultry, but hunting is unlikely to have been able to reduce their population much at such an early time, as evidenced by the continuous survival of the marsh harrier, which was heavily persecuted for centuries for the same reason.
References
^BirdLife International (2016). "Falco duboisi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22731930A95038951. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22731930A95038951.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Cowles, Graham S. (1994): A new genus, three new species and two new records of extinct Holocene birds from Réunion Island, Indian Ocean. Geobios27(1): 87–93.
March 13, 2023
réunion, kestrel, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Reunion kestrel news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions January 2021 The Reunion kestrel Falco duboisi is an extinct bird of prey which belongs to the falcon family It inhabited the Mascarene island of Reunion and was part of the Western Indian Ocean radiation of kestrels Reunion kestrelConservation statusExtinct c 1700 IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder FalconiformesFamily FalconidaeGenus FalcoSpecies F duboisiBinomial name Falco duboisiCowles 1994Known from subfossil bones and the writings of Dubois published in 1674 this bird was larger than its relative F punctatus on Mauritius being about the size of a common kestrel or around 35 cm from head to tail with males being noticeably smaller than females This trait while present in most birds of prey is most pronounced in the larger bird eating species and reduces between sex competition by niche differentiation It can be assumed that the bird was of the same generally brownish coloration as its closest relatives with a lighter underside and darker spots or stipples the tail brown or more probably grey being banded and tipped black Its feet were yellow and large relative to the bird s overall size The wingspan was 60 70 cm its wings being more rounded than those of the common kestrel just as in the Mauritius bird for increased maneuvrability when hunting in the forest It is probable but not certain that the only difference between the sexes was their size The bird fed mainly on birds but certainly also on insects and the local gecko Dubois noted that despite their small size they were able to prey on domestic chickens Extinction EditDubois mentioned three kinds of birds of prey extant on Reunion in the early 1670s in order of decreasing size papangues the local marsh harrier which still exists pieds jaunes yellow feet and emerillons a term for small falcons like the merlin It is not quite clear what name refers to the Reunion kestrel From reviewing the evidence the bird was most probably the emerillon with the pieds jaunes being either migrant falcons the only species that might occur in the area the sooty falcon Eleonora s falcon and the peregrine falcon are larger than F duboisi was if not in overall length then at least in wingspan or the juveniles of the marsh harrier which are distinctly colored and also have yellow feet The latter explanation seems more likely as the name was unequivocally applied to young marsh harriers in the late 19th century Nonetheless it seems remotely possible that the Reunion falcon s sexes were not only of different size but also differently colored In this case the males would be the emerillons and the females the pieds jaunes This seems not likely however as Jean Feuilley in 1705 only mentions papangues and pieds jaunes as extant The extinction of the Reunion kestrel which thus seems to have been complete around 1700 is something of a mystery just as that of the Reunion scops owl Introduced predators were not present in numbers at that time and even rats probably would not have presented much of a problem for the birds Certainly they were considered a pest as they fed on poultry but hunting is unlikely to have been able to reduce their population much at such an early time as evidenced by the continuous survival of the marsh harrier which was heavily persecuted for centuries for the same reason References Edit BirdLife International 2016 Falco duboisi IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22731930A95038951 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS T22731930A95038951 en Retrieved 12 November 2021 Cowles Graham S 1994 A new genus three new species and two new records of extinct Holocene birds from Reunion Island Indian Ocean Geobios 27 1 87 93 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Reunion kestrel amp oldid 1112157104, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
