Lesser Kestrel

Falco naumanni

Beak

—

Feet

—

Crest

No crest

Widespread passage migrant. Slightly smaller and slimmer than Common Kestrel. Flapping shallower and stiffer. Claws whitish (black on Common). When perched wing-tips reach or nearly reach tip of tail (falling short of tail in Common). Male has uniform blue-grey head (without dark moustachial stripe), unmarked rufous upperparts. blue-grey greater coverts. and almost plain orange - buff underparts. in flight. underwing whiter with more clea~ypronounced darker trailing edge and wing-tips; tail often looks more wedge-shaped. First-year male more like Common; best distinguished by structural differences and unmarked rufous mantle and scapulars. Female and juvenile have less distinct moustachial stripe than Common, and lack any suggestion of dark eye-stripe; underwing tends to be cleaner and whiter, with primary bases unbarred (or only lightly barred) and coverts less heavily spotted, and dark primary tips more pronounced. Hunts in similar manner to Common Kestrel, but usually in small parties or larger flocks and is more agile and graceful in flight. Roosts communally. Globally threatened. Open grassland and cultivation.