Greater Kestrel ( Falco rupicoloides, family: Falconidae)

greater kestrel kruger national park birds The Greater Kestrel (Latin name Falco rupicoloides) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 182 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 547 also a picture of the Greater Kestrel on page 529. The Greater Kestrel belongs to the family of birds classified as Falconidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Greater Kestrel is also known by these other names: White-eyed Kestrel.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Greater Kestrel is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Greater Kestrel in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Greater Kestrel : see above distribution map.

Kruger Park Greater KestrelIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Greater Kestrel is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the Greater Kestrel is about 36 cms and its weight is about 275 gms

The male and female Greater Kestrel have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is grey.
  • Eye is cream.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is black, grey.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are yellow.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Greater Kestrel feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Other Birds

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Greater Kestrel is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Falco rupicoloides will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Greater Kestrel is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are cream in colour and number between 1 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Greater Kestrel are: grasslands . The Greater Kestrel is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Greater Kestrel by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Grootrooivalk

German ... Steppenfalke

Portuguese ... Peneireiro-grande

French ... Crcerelle aux yeux blancs

Dutch ... Grote Torenvalk

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 182

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za