CreatureData

Malagasy kestrel

Falco newtoni (Gurney Sr, 1863)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 105 g to 145 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni)
Photo: Brian Ralphs from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the malagasy kestrel

Weight
105 g – 145 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
49 cm – 63 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the malagasy kestrel?

MALAGASY KESTREL · WINGSPAN 63 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 63 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the malagasy kestrel is about 37% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the malagasy kestrel live?

Not recorded

What is the malagasy kestrel?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni), also known as the Madagascar kestrel, Malagasy spotted kestrel, Newton's kestrel, Madagascar spotted kestrel, katiti (Creole) or hitsikitsika (Malagasy), is a small bird of prey of the genus Falco. It is named after British ornithologist Edward Newton. It occurs in two subspecies on Madagascar and at Aldabra. The race from Aldabra is also called Aldabra kestrel (Falco newtoni aldabranus). Its closest living relative is the Seychelles kestrel; they were at one time considered conspecific. Their common ancestors appear to have diverged very recently, probably less than 1 million years ago during the Early or Middle Pleistocene. The Mauritius kestrel is more distantly related (Groombridge et al. 2002).

From the Wikipedia article “Malagasy kestrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malagasy_kestrel&oldid=1352339358), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the malagasy kestrel endangered?

The malagasy kestrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the malagasy kestrel classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderFalconiformes
  5. familyFalconidae
  6. genusFalco
  7. SpeciesFalco newtoni (Gurney Sr, 1863)

Synonyms Tinnunculus newtoni

Other names and names in other languages (44)
  • Aldabra kestrelEnglish
  • Madagascan kestrelEnglish
  • Madagascar kestrelEnglish
  • Madagascar kestrelEnglish
  • MAKEEnglish
  • عوسق ملغاشيArabic
  • xoriguer de NewtonCatalan
  • poštolka madagaskarskáCzech
  • MadagaskartårnfalkDanish
  • Madagascar TårnfalkDanish
  • KatitiGerman
  • HitikitikeGerman
  • MadagaskarfalkeGerman
  • MalegassenturmfalkeGerman
  • madagaskara falkoEsperanto
  • Malagasa turfalkoEsperanto
  • Cernícalo de AldabraSpanish
  • Cernícalo de MadagascarSpanish
  • madagaskari tuuletallajaEstonian
  • madagaskarintuulihaukkaFinnish
  • Faucon malgacheFrench
  • Crécerelle malgacheFrench
  • Faucon de NewtonFrench
  • madagaskarska vjetrušaCroatian
  • madagaszkári vércseHungarian
  • Gheppio del MadagascarItalian
  • マダガスカルチョウゲンボウJapanese
  • madagaskarinis pelėsakalisLithuanian
  • VoromaheryMalagasy
  • HitsikitsikaMalagasy
  • MadagaskartorenvalkDutch
  • pustułka malgaskaPolish
  • francelho-malgaxePortuguese
  • Peneireiro-de-madagascarPortuguese
  • peneireiro-malgaxePortuguese
  • Мадагаскарская пустельгаRussian
  • sokol hrdzavochrbtýSlovak
  • Madagaskarska vetruškaSerbian
  • madagaskarfalkSwedish
  • Madagasgar kerkeneziTurkish
  • Madagaskar KerkeneziTurkish
  • боривітер мадагаскарськийUkrainian
  • 马岛隼Chinese
  • 馬達加斯加隼Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the malagasy kestrel

Other species in the same genus Falco.

LC, Least Concern
Merlin (Falco columbarius)

Merlin

Falco columbarius

Falconidae

LC, Least Concern
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

Gyrfalcon

Falco rusticolus

Falconidae

CompareMalagasy kestrel vs Peregrine falconMalagasy kestrel vs Common kestrelMalagasy kestrel vs Eurasian hobbyMalagasy kestrel vs Merlin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the malagasy kestrel?

An adult malagasy kestrel weighs 105 g – 145 g and has a wingspan of 49 cm – 63 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the malagasy kestrel endangered?

The malagasy kestrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the malagasy kestrel?

The malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni) belongs to the family Falconidae in the order Falconiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-kestrel

MLA

“Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-kestrel.

BibTeX
@misc{malagasy_kestrel_2026,
  title = {Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-kestrel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}