Introducing Hover and Crécelle
Thursday, 15 April 2010
It's been suggested that the kestrels starring in Kestrel Cam should be given names. After a little bit of thought and input from others it has been decided to call them Hover (male) and Crécelle (female).Hover is fairly straight forward in reasoning since the kestrel is the only small British bird of prey which hovers whilst hunting.
Hover
Crécelle (pronounced cray-cell) comes from the French "to rattle" which refers to the kestrel's call, the French name for the kestrel is Crécerelle.
Crécelle
Unlike most raptors, kestrels display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having less black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars on females. Which should help you tell them apart. Also Hover, unlike Crécelle, has a BTO ring on his right leg, although it is much too small to try and read the identification number.
It's early days in the breeding process for Hover and Crécelle, the first egg was laid overnight on the 13/14 April and we can hope to expect another 2-4 eggs. Stay tuned!
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