(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: The sighting of a Eurasian Kestrel, a falcon, was reported in Qatar. It is said to be the first sighting of this species in the country.
These Eurasian Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) were found on the rainbow arch during a bird watching by Dr.Zubair Medammal, falcon researcher and assistant professor, Department of Zoology, University of Calicut. He was on a short visit to Qatar recently. He said that the Eurasian Kestrel, weighing around 1kg, was found on a monument in Qatar.
These falcons were seen frequenting one of the prominent architectural monuments in Qatar, the lower one in the 100 m high twin arches nearby Interchange 5/6 on the Lusail Expressway built on the location of the one-time Rainbow (Arch) roundabout in Al Dafna area. The bird, not very Eurasianly, but seen in Qatar, normally nests on ledges on cliffs, trees and also top of buildings.
About 3- 7 eggs are laid a year that takes almost four weeks to hatch. The hatchlings are fed with chicks of other birds, small rodents, and the like and rarely lizards. Nesting on such a manmade, metallic and fully exposed structure below which there is intense traffic round the clock is first time seen in the country.
On close watch, it was seen that the bird has established its nest in a junction box that hold a red sign lamp on the upper reaches of the lower arch. The hole through which the parental birds enter the box seems apparently only of 10-15 cm in diameter.
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