Now, I'm not saying it is impossible but the fact of the matter is. Your not going to take dove or quail with a kestrel with any consistency. They would have to get them around the neck or by a wing. Merlins have longer toes and even they can have a hard time if they don't learn to go for the neck of wing. I had a buddy that had a female merlin that was taking scaled quail in her third season fairly often. She unexpectedly died of a aneurysm before the next season. She had a tally of 15 scaled quail toward the end of her last season. Bad little bird though!
Last Edit: Jul 7, 2008 17:09:05 GMT -5 by Tiercel78
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
Dont believe me. No sweat off my back. All of them were taken accidentally on my part. He would grab their head and not let go. I even ripped him off with no reward and he still did it.
Post by UTLongWinger on Jul 8, 2008 13:36:49 GMT -5
I had a female kestrel that took a few quail, most were immature and small, and not on purpose. I was hawking starlings in neighborhoods, the quail were just in the same yards feeding with the starlings.
The adults that she grabbed usually quickly bucked her off. Quail feathers come out so easily, she was mostly left with two fists full of feathers and a quail bolting off. She grabbed a male by the head once, even pulled off his little tuft, but in the process she was wing beaten bad before I could get to her.
Quail and doves are not good quarry for Kestrels. Stick to quarry more suited to your bird.. you'll be more successful that way =)