Indian Ocean kestrels

Isolated on various islands around the Indian Ocean, kestrel populations evolved into different species, like Darwin's finches.

Due to the scarcity of mammals on oceanic islands, several species have adopted a diet containing many Phelsuma and other geckos.

The species can be distinguished by coloration, but all except the banded kestrel share rich brown wings with black spotting.

As usual in birds of prey, females are larger than males; considerably so in some of these species as this assists resource partitioning.

Two subspecies of Malagasy kestrel, F. newtoni, are recognised, one on the main island of Madagascar and one on neighbouring Anjouan and Aldabra.

Habitat loss and DDT poisoning pushed this species to the brink of extinction, down to possibly as few as six individuals (and an even smaller effective population size) in the mid 1970s.