Kestrel

Seen one? Add it to your free UK BirdedexHear its song and see the mapFree, no app download. Common bird: +1 point when you log it.

Kestrel in the UK

The Kestrel is a resident, breeding throughout the UK apart from the highest ground and parts of the far north-west. The population is about 31,000 pairs. It was Britain's commonest bird of prey for much of the 20th century but has been overtaken by the Buzzard. Numbers fell by 39% between 1995 and 2024 and it is Amber-listed. The causes are not fully understood. Fewer voles on intensively farmed land, rodenticide poisoning and lower survival of young birds are all thought to play a part. Some northern birds move south for winter.

Where and when to see a Kestrel

Anywhere with rough, tussocky grass that holds voles: road and motorway verges, field margins, coastal grassland, moorland edge, railway embankments and waste ground. It also lives in towns, nesting on tall buildings. Watch for a bird hanging in the air into the wind, head dead still, then dropping in stages. Breezy days are best for hovering. On calm days it hunts from posts, wires and bare branches. Early morning and late afternoon are most active, but it hunts at any time of day, all year.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Farmland, motorway verges.
Diet: Voles, small mammals.
Field note: Hovers into wind.

How to identify a Kestrel

A slim falcon about the size of a Collared Dove, with long pointed wings and a long tail. Males have a blue-grey head, a chestnut back with black spots, and a grey tail with a single black band at the tip. Females and young birds are brown all over, with dark bars on the back and tail and a streaked buff breast. Both show dark outer wings against a paler, warmer inner wing from above. The persistent hover is the giveaway: no other common British raptor does it so often or for so long.

Call and song

A shrill, fast "kee-kee-kee-kee", heard mostly around the nest in spring and from noisy fledged young in July. Quiet for the rest of the year. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Sparrowhawk: Sparrowhawk has short, broad, rounded wings and flies with a flap-flap-glide; it never hovers and has barred underparts.
• Eurasian Hobby: Hobby is dark slate above with a white cheek and black moustache, has a shorter tail and Swift-like wings, and does not hover.
• Merlin: Merlin is smaller and more compact with a shorter tail, flies fast and low after small birds, and lacks the chestnut back.

Related guide UK raptors and owls.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Kestrel is a Common tier bird, worth +1 point when you log one. It is Amber-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the middle level of concern in the UK.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Eurasian HobbyUncommon · Heathland
• Lesser KestrelEpic · Open farmland
• American KestrelLegendary · Open country (extreme vagrant)
• Amur FalconLegendary · Open country (extreme vagrant)
• Eleonora's FalconEpic · Mediterranean sea-cliffs
• GyrfalconEpic · Cliffs (rare winter visitor)

Tell it apart

Side-by-side ID guides: Sparrowhawk vs Kestrel.

Kestrel: quick answers

What does a Kestrel eat?

Field Voles above all, with mice, shrews, small birds, beetles, grasshoppers and earthworms. Town Kestrels take more small birds. In a poor vole year pairs lay fewer eggs or do not breed at all.

How does a Kestrel hover?

It flies into the wind at exactly the wind's speed, so it stays over one spot. The wings and tail make constant small adjustments while the head stays fixed, which lets it watch the grass below for movement. In still air it has to flap much harder, so it tends to hunt from a perch.

Is the Kestrel rare in the UK?

No, it is still widespread and you can find one in most parts of the country. It is less common than it was, though. In some western and northern areas it has become hard to find, and the long decline is why it is on the Amber list.

Kit that helps

Best binoculars for UK birding. Affiliate links, our own picks, no extra cost to you.