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Lesser Kestrel

Lesser Kestrel

Falco naumanni

Identify the Lesser Kestrel by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Lesser Kestrel is a small, migratory falcon that breeds from the Mediterranean across Central Asia to China and Mongolia and winters mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. It closely resembles the larger Common Kestrel, but the male lacks a dark moustache and back spots, and both sexes have pale, whitish talons. A social bird, it often nests in colonies on old buildings. It has declined in parts of Europe.

Did you know?

  • A single communal roost in Senegal once held about 28,600 Lesser Kestrels.
  • Unlike most falcons, it has whitish talons, best seen at close range.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

Smaller and slimmer than Kestrel, with relatively long wings and tail. The male's blue-grey head and blue-grey wing coverts are a clear mark, visible in flight; females are very hard to separate from female Kestrel. At close range the male's unspotted back and the pale talons help separate it from Kestrel, which has a more spotted back and dark talons.

Family

Falconidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

brown, grey, orange, white

About the habitat

Open country such as farmland, steppe and semi-arid grassland; it readily nests in villages and towns, in old buildings and walls.

Diet

Mainly insects, especially grasshoppers, locusts and beetles; also small rodents, reptiles and small birds, often picked from the ground.

Behaviour

A social falcon that nests in colonies on buildings, cliffs or in holes, laying 3–6 eggs without building a nest. It forages over open ground, hovering or dropping from perches, and has a harsh “chay-chay-chay” call. In winter it may roost communally in huge numbers.

Sources

Photo: Sumeet Moghe, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lesser Kestrel (Male).jpg

Sound: Bubulcus, CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falco_naumanni.ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_kestrel

See also