Lesser Kestrel

Kestrels / Lesser Kestrel

Falco naumanni

This beautiful, slender falcon (breeds from the Mediterranean across south central asia to China and Mongolia)  visits Africa in the summer months, where it spends its time in open country. I first recorded this species in October 2011 while exploring Marievale Bird Sanctuary near Nigel.

My best views of these dimorphic kestrels took place in December 2012 while driving from Zaagkuildrift to Rust de Winter. The roadside trees and telephone poles seemed to have a lesser kestrel on each one of them.


Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel / Agulhas Plains, Western Cape, South Africa / 29 December 2014 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel / Between Creighton & Franklin, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa / 14 December 2015 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel / Agulhas Plains, Western Cape, South Africa / 29 December 2014 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel – female / Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, South Africa / 23 March 2012 Lesser Kestrel – female / Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, South Africa / 23 March 2012 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel – female / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel – female / Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, South Africa / 23 March 2012 Lesser Kestrel / Agulhas Plains, Western Cape, South Africa / 29 December 2014 Lesser Kestrel – male / Rust de Winter, South Africa / 20 December 2012 Lesser Kestrel – male / Marievale Bird Sanctuary, South Africa / 28 October 2011
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