The Kestrel is the commonest daytime raptor in Europe.
It is found throughout most of temperate and tropical Europe, Asia and Africa.


© Arthur Grosset
It has adapted to a wide variety of habitats but prefers shrubby, more open country provided there are trees,
telegraph poles, buildings, etc. on which it can roost.

It seems to have benefited from the building of Motorways whose verges provide a very good habitat for the voles which constitute the bulk of the Kestrel's diet in Europe.
Its hunting technique involves hovering, sometimes at several levels moving closer to the ground,
then pouncing on its prey.


© Arthur Grosset
The male has a grey head and tail while the female show a brown head and has a barred tail.

      
Nest with eggs, and Kestrel with a rat (?)
www.ecosystema.ru ®



On the Island of La Gomera, Canary Islands, It came every day just below our apartment,
and it wasn't alone either,at a time as many as 5 of them flew around there.


Kestrel hovering while hunting for prey
BBC Natural History Unit
http://www.arkive.org


It took some time to get acquainted to their sound, as they were not only making cries when they flew,
but it seemed like they already had begun their flirtation - and then the sound was different.
We believe this to be the Falco tinnunculus canariensis,
or just Kestrel or Tornfalk in plain english

The two pictures from La Gomera, Canary Islands: © www.vulkaner.no