Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Measurements: 0.29-0.32m long; wingspan 0.58-0.72cm.

Plenty of raptors incorporate insects into their diet, but none are as dependent upon them as the Lesser Kestrel; in some cases individuals eat nothing else all summer, whilst others take 90% insects and 10% other items in the course of their breeding season. The latter items, curiously enough, often include centipedes, something of a speciality; they are aggressive invertebrates and are decapitated first. Being Kestrels, the birds often hover and drop on to their prey, but they are also capable of catching insects in flight, or plunging from a perch to snatch them on the ground. When they do hover, Lesser Kestrels flap less than Common Kestrels, and they have a tendency to break out of a hover, glide for a bit, and then hover again.

By Griha Hasanov – https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/137877081, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110063409

The Lesser Kestrel is highly colonial. This is a habit it shares with the Red-footed Falcon, but the nest sites of the two insectivorous species are completely different. Lesser Kestrels don’t use old nests, but lay their eggs in holes in cliffs or buildings, usually the latter. They particularly like old, crumbling buildings, and are not put off if they find these within towns and villages, so long as these are surrounded by open countryside. If there are plenty of feeding sites within close proximity, usually no more than 7km away, the precise nature of the colony’s backdrop is immaterial.

By Hari K Patibanda – CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93780926

Lesser Kestrels are migrants from Africa, with the males arriving first, in March and early April. They select a nest site and then advertise themselves by flying above their patch with food trailing from their talons, meanwhile giving a special call. This trophy, oddly enough, is not usually an insect but a lizard, for reasons that only the Kestrels know.

From ‘Birds: A Complete Guide to All British and European Species’, by Dominic Couzens. Published by Collins and reproduced with permission.