Fox Kestrel (Falco alopex) - BirdLife species factsheet

Fox Kestrel Falco alopex

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	8,700,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	6700-67000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2001
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	4.3 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is suspected to number 10,001-100,000 individuals (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001), roughly equating to 6,700-67,000 mature individuals. However, given the size of the range and the frequency of reports it is unlikely that the true population size is close to the lower end of this range.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable overall in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger the population decreased outside protected areas and increased slightly within protected areas between 1969-1973 and 2000-2004 (Thiollay 2007).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Non-breeding visitor
Benin	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	vagrant		yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native
Togo	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Benin	Pendjari National Park
Burkina Faso	Bérégadougou hill
Cameroon	Gashiga - Demsa
Cameroon	Mayo-Louti Forest Reserve
Cameroon	Mbam Djerem National Park
Cameroon	Waza National Park
Central African Republic	André Félix National Park complex
Central African Republic	Bamingui-Bangoran National Park complex
Central African Republic	Bozoum
Central African Republic	Manovo - Gounda - St Floris National Park complex
Côte d'Ivoire	Comoe National Park
Eritrea	Mareb escarpment
Eritrea	Western Plain: Barka river
Eritrea	Western Plain: Gash - Setit
Ethiopia	Jemma and Jara valleys
Guinea	Mafou
Guinea	Nialama
Mali	Bafing
Mali	Falaise de Bandiagara
Mali	Sirakoroni - Tyènfala
Niger	Diffa-Kinzindi grassland and wetlands
Niger	Makalondi district
Nigeria	Amurum woodlands (Taboru)
Nigeria	Assop Falls and hills
Nigeria	Falgore and Lame Burra Game Reserves
Nigeria	Gashaka-Gumti National Park
Nigeria	Kagoro - Nindam Forest Reserves and vicinity
Nigeria	Yankari Game Reserve
Senegal	Delta du Saloum
Senegal	Parc National du Niokolo-Koba
South Sudan	Bandingilo
South Sudan	Imatong mountains
South Sudan	Juba
South Sudan	Kidepo
South Sudan	Nimule
South Sudan	Southern National Park
South Sudan	Sudd (Bahr-el-Jebel system)
Togo	Fazao-Malfakassa National Park
Togo	Kéran National Park
Togo	Oti Valley Faunal Reserve
Uganda	Kidepo Valley National Park
Uganda	Mount Otzi Forest Reserve

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	breeding
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 2900 m

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Agriculture & aquaculture

Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 4

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation

Pollution

Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides