A new longevity record was recently reported for the Rock Kestrel (Falco rupicolus). This individual was resighted most recently by its initial ringer Dr Anthony Van Zyl. It was seen on September 25th, 2016 in the same quarry (Dorstberg Quarry) it was ringed in; on June 17th, 2007. As this individual was initially ringed as an adult and was last seen alive; it would likely be older than the calculated age of 9 years 3 months and 13 days. This Rock Kestrel was ringed as part of a study looking at the population dynamics of the Rock Kestrel on the Cape Peninsula and forms part of the Migrating Kestrel Project; one of the projects run by the Birds of Prey Working Group, Endangered Wildlife Trust. At her last sighting she doing well and was incubating eggs in the quarry. As she was colour ringed during the initial ringing (Black over Green) she is easily distinguished and has been seen on one other occasion near Spes Bona Road, Durbanville on the January 9th, 2016 by Cathy Kent. There are a number of other individuals in our database aged at ±8 years old (one of which is reported in Roberts 7). As many individuals were colour ringed at a similar time, please keep an eye out for them so that we can expect to see other records soon.
If you feel you know of an older record please contact us at SAFRING with the details.
The great photo included with this article is accredited to Peter and Sandra Greaves and was linked from BirdPix.
| Taxonomy | Maximum Longevity |
| Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae Genus: Falco |
8 (Roberts 7) >9.28 years (SAFRING) |
| Species | Ring Number |
| Falco rupicolus | 5H35326 |
| Common name | Sample size |
| Rock Kestrel | Ringed: 1681 Retrapped: 36 Recovered: 41 Total: 1758 |
