Lesser Kestrel
Falco naumanni
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Falcons and Caracaras (Falconidae)
- Order
- Falconiformes
Overview
The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds Mediterranean basin to eastern China; winters to southern Asia and southern Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Poland
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Vatican City
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Lesser kestrel
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
