Kestrel está de volta! Clima Alterado.A fêmea reapareceu na varanda muito antes do esperado. Estamos experimentando temperaturas bem acima da média para um outono. Temperaturas de 25, 26 graus Celsius, muito pouca chuva e vento. Céu limpo. Parece que estamos na primavera... Estou observando como essas mudanças climáticas podem alterar o comportamento reprodutivo das espécies.Desejando sorte a todos,Marcelo
- Santos - São Paulo - Brasil
Image:
Hi mghibu,
Glad to see your Kestrels back, hope you have good luck with them.
If you want more info on our Kestrels link to
http://www.nu-sun.com/html/kestrel_korner.html
There are many videos and photos on our site and observations are done conatantly.
Nu-Sun Cinema American Kestrel Research Center
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Very cool to see a kestrel back on your balcony, especially so soon! Climate change-related shifts in breeding behavior, and subsequent effects on breeding success, are two critical areas of study for researchers (kestrel and otherwise) today. We greatly appreciate the data you provide as one of a very few partners in the Southern Hemisphere, and hope you get some more seasonal weather come breeding season in your area.
A side note—we have to admit, we're very curious about this particular bird, as those first two photos appear to show an abnormally-shaped beak. Without better photos, it's tough to tell whether this is overgrowth due to injury or disease, some other injury, or perhaps even that this bird was held in captivity for a while and improperly cared for. If she sticks around and you're able to grab a clearer photo of the beak, we'd love to see if we can figure out exactly what's going on.
Sending all the best from our headquarters in Boise!
Matthew
AKP Staff
Hello!
Yes, our Kestrel's beak shape has me concerned. Mainly with regard to its ability to feed itself.This female has been appearing in the vicinity lately, mainly in the morning. As she has not been approaching, this year I was not able to take pictures with a good resolution to help identify what could be causing the anomaly in her beak.However, I am sending forward images from last year where she already has this anomaly.I observe that this bird has been visiting us for 3 years and at first it had a normal beak.Could it be scabies? I see them entering a space in a neighboring building that we know is not clean. Also, I observe her scratching herself a lot.Below are photos taken in August/September 2022.Thank all at the American Kestrel Partnership for interest and help and thanks especially to you Matthew.
Marcelo - Santos - São Paulo - Brazil.
Olá Marcelo -
Thanks for sending these closeup photos. There is indeed something very wrong with this bird's beak. As Nu-Sun listed, there are a number of possible causes for beak deformities in birds, and without actually having the bird in hand to perform specific testing, there's no way to know for sure which caused the situation seen here. That said, our best guess here would be trauma. Looking closely, this bird's lower mandible appears much smaller than it should be, and we're suspicious the keratinized outer layer has been ripped off somehow and the bone underneath has been exposed and possibly damaged. Without the lower mandible to help maintain the beak's shape, the upper portion of the beak could overgrow as we're seeing here. It's very possible this bird has mites or other ectoparasites, but this would be a symptom, not a cause; with its beak badly mis-shapen like this, it would be difficult for this bird to preen well enough to keep itself parasite-free.
We have to admit we're very curious what the beak looks like with another year of growth. Depending on the level of damage, the keratinized portion of the lower mandible may or may not have grown back, but even if it did, it would be extremely unlikely that this bird could have properly re-shaped the upper mandible on her own. Obviously she's found a way to at least partially cope with the situation if she's still alive 10 months after those photos were taken, but we would need to see something more current to speculate too much on her future odds.
Matthew
AKP Staff
Hi mghibu,
It is our understanding that there are several different factors that can cause beak deformities. These factors can include nutritional deficiencies, environmental contaminants, bacterial or viral infections, fungal or parasitic infections. Trauma can also cause your bird’s beak to become deformed.
Hope this helps,
Nu-Sun Cinema American Kestrel Research Center
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.