Lesser Kestrel

• GeneralIt breeds in colonies under the roof tiles of churches and castles, and eats insects.
• comportamientoIt breeds in colonies in town centres and historic buildings, one of the few raptors that depends directly on human structures to nest.
• It breeds inside villages: under the roof tiles of churches, castles and farmsteads in Extremadura, Andalusia and Castile, which is why its conservation depends as much on farming as on how historic buildings are restored.
• It feeds almost entirely on large insects caught on the ground, and a colony of fifty pairs can eat several tonnes of grasshoppers in a season.
• Artificial nest towers, purpose-built structures with breeding cavities, have become a standard conservation tool in Spain and have allowed the species to recolonise villages from which it had disappeared.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Cereal steppe and grassland; breeds colonially in churches, castles, farmsteads and cliffs

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

28 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

4 eggs

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List · Animal Diversity Web · Wikipedia (es)