Nankeen Kestrel

The Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) is a distinctive Australian bird that can often be identified by a combination of plumage, shape, behaviour and voice. A small slim falcon with rufous upperparts, pale underparts, a dark eye and moustache mark, long pointed wings and a long tail. Adults are typically about 28–35 cm long, so size can be a useful clue when you compare the bird with nearby species.

How to identify a Nankeen Kestrel

A small slim falcon with rufous upperparts, pale underparts, a dark eye and moustache mark, long pointed wings and a long tail. When you are trying to identify one in the field, start with overall size and body shape, then check the head pattern, bill, wing markings, tail and any unusually bright colours. Lighting can change how feathers look, so it is safer to use several features together rather than relying on one colour.

Nankeen Kestrels frequently hover in one place facing into the wind while scanning the ground, then drop rapidly onto prey. Behaviour is often just as useful as plumage. A bird that repeatedly uses a particular feeding style, posture or flight pattern can be much easier to identify even when it is partly hidden or too far away for a perfect view.

Where does the Nankeen Kestrel live in Australia?

Widespread across mainland Australia and Tasmania in open habitats.

Typical habitat includes grassland, farmland, roadsides, dunes, open woodland and urban fringes. The best places to look are areas that combine suitable food with safe roosting or nesting sites. Distribution can shift locally with rainfall, flowering, breeding seasons and food availability, so a species may be common in one district and much harder to find only a short distance away.

What does the Nankeen Kestrel eat?

Large insects, small mammals, lizards and occasionally small birds. The exact menu can change with season and location. Wild birds generally do best when they can use natural food sources, so this guide describes normal feeding ecology rather than encouraging people to offer processed human food.

Watching how a bird feeds can also help with identification. Note whether it forages on the ground, probes mud, takes nectar from flowers, hunts from a perch, dives into water or catches insects in flight.

Behaviour and calls

Nankeen Kestrels frequently hover in one place facing into the wind while scanning the ground, then drop rapidly onto prey.

Calls are sharp, repeated chattering or 'kik-kik' notes, especially around nesting areas. Learning even one characteristic call can be extremely helpful because many Australian birds are heard before they are seen. Calls can vary with alarm, courtship, contact between flock members and time of day, so use voice together with visual clues.

Nesting and breeding

They use tree hollows, cliff ledges, buildings and old nests rather than constructing a substantial nest of their own. Breeding timing varies across Australia and can be influenced by latitude, rainfall and local conditions. If you find an active nest or dependent young, observe from a respectful distance so the adults can continue normal feeding and defence behaviour.

Similar birds

Brown Falcons are larger, broader-winged and more variable in colour and usually do not hover as persistently. Australian Hobbies have darker upperparts and faster flight. If you are unsure, compare bill shape, body proportions, eye colour, leg colour and voice as well as plumage. Photographs taken from different angles can be especially useful for checking difficult features after the sighting.

Quick identification tip

For a fast identification, remember three things: the bird is approximately 28–35 cm long; its key visual clue is a small slim falcon with rufous upperparts, pale underparts, a dark eye and moustache mark, long pointed wings and a long tail.; and its usual Australian setting is grassland, farmland, roadsides, dunes, open woodland and urban fringes. Those three clues will usually narrow the options quickly before you compare similar species.