Kestrel

The bird is known as Falco Tinnunculus scientifically, but commonly there are lot of names like European kestrel, old world kestrel given to it. Kestrel is a part of falcon family and comes under Falconidae category. The bird is referred to as kestrel in the UK since there are no other coloured falcons around. The bird is seen over a large range across the African, Asian and European region and one can easily sight them across North American region.

The bird can be up to 39 centimetres in length with the wing span reaching up to 32 inches or 82 cms. The birds would have its female being larger in size. The male can be up to 252 grams in weight with the female reaching up to 314 grams. The bird is larger than other songbirds but smaller in size in comparison to the other birds of prey. They also have larger wings and tails which is a feature of the falcon family. The bird would have a chestnut brown plumage and some blackish spots can be seen around the upper side of the wings. The buff would also have streaks of black colour which can extend up to the bottom of the bird. The bird also have a tendency to show a colour difference among different sexes, with male having lesser blackish spots and streaks over it. The females would have a brown tail with brown bars showing up on it. The feet and the ring around their eyes is a prominent bright yellow colour with the iris and the bill being in dark colours. The young ones would resemble the female except that the streaks on their body are much wider in pattern. Also the yellow on the body is much paler than what is seen on the adult body.
The bird migrates during cold weathers to the southern regions. The bird loves to live around in marshlands, heaths and fields which are open areas and has no requirement for woodlands or huge forest cover for it to survive. They can perch upon the tops of rocks and cliffs. The bird also can live with trees provided there are herbaceous plants which in turn can provide prey animals. The bird is quite adaptable and lives easily in human settlements and can be seen in places up to 4500 m in altitudes.
The bird can reach up to a height of 70 feet while hunting for food and it has different patterns to search for food. Either it hovers high in the sky or it can just fly with the wind. On the sight of their prey, they have a capability of making a steep and short dive towards it and they are good hunters. The bird & its species can also see a near ultraviolet light. These birds eat predominantly mammals like voles or mice. When mammals are not available, it can even attack small birds or small vertebrates like lizards, frogs and bats. This leaves them with a lot of eating options in most of their habitats.