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Importance of the premigratory areas for the conservation of lesser kestrel: space use and habitat selection during the post‐fledging period

The conservation importance of the post‐fledging period in migratory birds has been scarcely assessed. In this study, we examined the space use and habitat selection of radio‐tagged lesser kestrels Falco naumanni at two spatial scales during summer in north‐western Spain, where premigratory aggregations of around 1000 lesser kestrels occur. Space use was estimated by kernel accounting for the spatiotemporal autocorrelation of the radio locations, and habitat selection was analysed by weighted compositional analysis accounting for the intensity of use. Kestrels moved within 9 km around roosts during daylight and returned daily during sunset to the same roosts, exhibiting refuging behaviour. They foraged on average 3.7 km from the roost in an area of 346.8 ha (home range), 92.7 ha of which were used intensively (core area). Within these areas, lesser kestrels intensively used more farmland than any land‐scale habitat. Within farmland, kestrels significantly avoided the irrigated crops. This avoidance seemed to be due to the difficulty of prey access and/or scarcity of prey available. Conservation plans of lesser kestrel should include the post‐fledging period by legally protecting roost sites and maintaining dry farmland systems around the communal roosts.