First Record of the Red-Footed Falcon’s Nocturnal Flight Activity during the Nestling Period Using GPS Data

Abstract

The red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) is a species that is of great interest to conservation. Because of this, understanding the red-footed falcon’s flight behavior is important for the conservation of this species. In this context, by using accurate GPS data-loggers, in 2019 and 2020, we analyzed its flight activity at the two largest colonies in Italy, and we collected 5840 GPS points. At night, all of the surveyed individuals were active during all of the hourly intervals, and they were in flight for about 10% of the time (40% in the daytime). The nocturnal flight activity showed a dual pattern: frequent and long-distance flights before sunrise (22.22% of time in flight; maximum distance from nest > 3 km) and after sundown (32.14% of time in flight; maximum distance from nest > 12 km), and limited and short-distance flights late at night (10 p.m.–5 a.m.; <5% of time in flight; maximum distance from nest < 100 m). Our study suggests that an increase in alfalfa crops and fallow land (in place of maize and soy crops) in the surroundings (i.e., 50–100 m) of the nests would considerably help this species to avoid, or at least to minimize, nocturnal flight activity, with expected improvements in its reproductive success. Our results are a step forward in advancing the knowledge of this important red-footed falcon population, which has been largely unknown so far. We provide here the first evidence ever of the red-footed falcon’s regular nocturnal flight activity during the nestling period (June–July).