Spatio-temporal patterns of the Red-footed Falcon's hunting behavior during the nestling period suggest ad hoc conservation policies

The Red-footed Falcon(Falco vespertinus)is a species of high international conservation interest.We analyzed its hunting behavior at the two largest colonies in Italy during the nestling period.Using accurate data-loggers,we tracked three adult Red-footed Falcons in June and July,2019 and collected 4703 GPS points.We detected clear patterns of hovering and perching activity(HPA)in both time and space.HPA occupied one-third of the Red-footed Falcons’day,and showed two peaks just after sunrise(between 35 and 40%of the monitoring time)and just before sunset(50‒60%)in both June and July,and minimum(20‒30%)at night and during the hottest time interval(10:00 a.m.‒4:00 p.m.).Almost 40%of HPA occurred within 50 m from nests.Our findings,although preliminary,have important implications for the conservation of these two colonies that are located within two Natura 2000 sites.The detected spatio-temporal patterns of Red-footed Falcons’hunting behavior suggests the creation of two nested protection belts:the inner one is a narrow belt(up to 50 m from the two rows of trees that host the two colonies)with integral conservation,and hopefully increase the alfalfa crops and fallow land,and the outer belt(50 m‒2 km)with optimized agricultural activities.