RECORDING 1
DATE/TIME: 10/october/2006 (7.30 a.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: A Kestrel - not seen - is perched on a pine tree in a garigue near the lagoon (bushes, grass and small scattered pine trees, poplars and holm oaks) - POSITION: Orbetello lagoon, LAT. N. 42°27' / LONG. E 11°12' - ALTITUDE: 0 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: advertising/contact call when perched. - SEX/AGE: unknown - COMMENT: the bird is quite far from the mic, therefore the signal to noise ratio is very low and the harmonics are only barely visibles in the second spectrogram. The background noise has been filtered out from the audio file. - MIC: (A)
recording 1 (152 KB) - * - spectrogram 1 (32 KB)
RECORDING 2
DATE/TIME: 5/july/2008 (6 a.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: A Kestrel - not seen - calls several times. Zone with cultivated fields near a big farm: a Kestrel nest (now empty) is placed on a pylon of a power line in a wheat field. - POSITION: Poponaio farm near Grosseto town, LAT.N 42°47'/LONG.E 11°06'- ALTITUDE: 12 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: advertising calls. - SEX/AGE: unknown - COMMENT: A male Kestrel (silent) is perched far on the power line. Probably it is the female and/or a juvenile that calls near the farm. Note that, unlike Recording 1, here the harmonics are clearly visible in the spectrograms: this is due to the better quality of this audio. - MIC: (P)
recording 2 (300 KB) - * - spectrogram 2 (56 KB)
RECORDING 3
DATE/TIME: 25/may/2008 (7.30 a.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: The same Kestrel nest descrbed above for Recording 2. A female Kestrel came back to the nest, where she had the eggs. - POSITION: Poponaio farm near Grosseto town, LAT.N 42°47'/LONG.E 11°06'- ALTITUDE: 12 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: the female uttered these calls when she was sitting on the eggs. - SEX/AGE: adult female - COMMENT: the female left the nest for about 30 minutes, then she came back to the nest and called. - MIC: (P)
recording 3 (150 KB) - * - spectrogram 3 (28 KB)
RECORDING 4
DATE/TIME: 25/may/2008 (8 a.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: The same Kestrel nest descrbed above for Recording 2 and Recording 3. A male Kestrel approached the nest in flight, where the female was incubating the eggs. - POSITION: Poponaio farm near Grosseto town, LAT.N 42°47'/LONG.E 11°06'- ALTITUDE: 12 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: calls between male and female near the nest. - SEX/AGE: adult female and male. - COMMENT: the male was flying around the nest without perching on it. Background: sparrow calls. - MIC: (P)
recording 4 (168 KB) - * - spectrogram 4 (36 KB)
RECORDING 5
DATE/TIME: 16/august/2011 (4 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: One Kestrel fly - in sight - above an uncultivated field. It begins a prolonged mobbing in flight against one Buzzard. The Buzzard fly over a forest and perches on a tree, the Kestrel utters the last two calls. - POSITION: Poderone near Magliano in Toscana, LAT.N 42°36'/LONG.E 11°17'- ALTITUDE: +130 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: threat calls. - SEX/AGE: adult bird, sex unknown. - COMMENT: the Kestrel calls during the mobbing action. Background: noise from Cicadas. - MIC: (P)
recording 5 (2194 KB) - * - spectrogram 5 (313 KB)
RECORDING 6
DATE/TIME: 19/october/2012 (3 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: Two Kestrels - well in sight - are flying close and are chasing each other. Probably they are a pair on their breeding territory. - POSITION: Poderone near Magliano in Toscana, LAT.N 42°36'/LONG.E 11°17'- ALTITUDE: +130 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: contact calls. - SEX/AGE: unknown. - COMMENT: Only one bird is calling. It calls several times and only one call series is recorded. In the last days the birds were much vocal. - MIC: (P)
recording 6 (184 KB) - * - spectrogram 6 (30 KB)
RECORDING 7
DATE/TIME: 10/december/2013 (4.30 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: One bird - not seen - is on a tree line near a ditch of a marsh. - POSITION: Diaccia Botrona marsh, LAT. N. 42°45'/LONG. E 10°54' - ALTITUDE: 0 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: calls. - SEX/AGE: unknown. - COMMENT: Two different call types. - MIC: (WA)
recording 7 (747 KB) - * - spectrogram 7 (147 KB)
RECORDING 8
DATE/TIME: 20/may/2015 (6 a.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: One bird is in sight, flying along a tree line that borders cereal and hay fields. It calls several times. - POSITION: Cernaia near Grosseto, LAT. N. 42°80'/LONG. E 11°03' - ALTITUDE: 0 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: flight calls. - SEX/AGE: unknown. - COMMENT: The audio sample was cut off for 10 seconds (see spectrograms). Background: Nightingale. - MIC: (P)
recording 8 (162 KB) - * - spectrogram 8 (42 KB)
RECORDING 9
DATE/TIME: 21/october/2017 (2.15 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: A Hooded Crow begins to mob a flying Kestrel. - POSITION: Poderone near Magliano in Toscana, LAT.N 42°36'/LONG.E 11°17'- ALTITUDE: +130 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: threat calls in flight. - SEX/AGE: unknown. - COMMENT: The two birds engage in a prolonged aerial fight, characterized by acrobatic flight pursuits and vocal duels. Note the typical rattling call of the Hooded Crow, specifically used for mobbing raptors. The audio sample was cut off for 7 and 17 seconds (see blue bars on the spectrograms). - MIC: (P)
recording 9 (754 KB) - * - spectrogram 9 (108 KB)
RECORDING 10
DATE/TIME: 16/april/2020 (5.45 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: A pair of Kestrels is flying above the cultivated fields. They land in the dense foliage of a large oak tree (out of sight). - POSITION: Poderone near Magliano in Toscana, LAT.N 42°36'/LONG.E 11°17'- ALTITUDE: +130 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: courtship display (?). - SEX/AGE: adult male and female. - COMMENT: Their prolonged and excited vocal performance is likely a courtship display (possibly culminating in copulation). Unfortunately, it was not possible to observe their behavior during the vocalizations. However, in the following weeks, the pair was frequently spotted in the vicinity. The original recording length was slightly shortened (see the spectrogram's time axis). Background: Zitting Cisticola, Italian Sparrow - MIC: (P)
recording 10 (731 KB) - * - spectrogram 10 (244 KB)
RECORDING 11
DATE/TIME: 23/july/2020 (5.45 p.m.) - IDENTIFICATION AND BEHAVIOUR: The same Kestrel pair from the previous recording is observed in the same location. The pair is flying over an uncultivated field when another raptor, likely a Honey Buzzard, appears and begins flying over the same area. - POSITION: Poderone near Magliano in Toscana, LAT.N 42°36'/LONG.E 11°17'- ALTITUDE: +130 m. - VOCALIZATION TYPE: threat / aggressive and territorial / advertising calls. - SEX/AGE: adult male. - COMMENT: The male Kestrel initiates an intense mobbing attack against the Honey Buzzard, employing aggressive acrobatic flight and threat calls. The Honey Buzzard is eventually forced to land in the field, while the Kestrel continues to fly and dive above it. Finally, the Kestrel succeeds in driving the Buzzard away. Afterward, the Kestrel soars over the field and eventually perches atop a telephone pole in the middle of the field. From this vantage point, it calls loudly, producing long series of territorial or advertising vocalizations (see spectrograms). Notably, this audio sample — part of a longer recording — includes at least four distinct call types. Background: Chiffchaff. - MIC: (P)
recording 11 (892 KB) - * - spectrogram 11 (185 KB)