What does the Common Kestrel eat?

The Common Kestrel's diet shapes where and when you'll find it. Understanding what it eats helps you predict where to look.

Diet overview

Primarily small mammals (voles, mice), large insects (grasshoppers, beetles), small birds, and lizards. Diet varies seasonally and geographically.

How it forages

Hunts primarily by hovering or 'kiting' into the wind, scanning the ground below for prey. Once prey is sighted, it descends rapidly, sometimes in a shallow dive, to snatch it. Also hunts from a perch. Small prey is often consumed whole, larger prey is dismembered. Pellets containing indigestible material are regurgitated.

When it feeds

Diurnal, active during daylight hours.

Explore the Common Kestrel