Nankeen Kestrel
Falco cenchroides
Also known as: Australian Falcon, Australian Kestrel
About This Species
Look for it hovering on beating wings above open grassland, farmland or roadside verges as it scans for insects, small reptiles and rodents below. It also hunts from exposed perches such as fence posts and dead trees, dropping suddenly onto prey in the grass. Activity peaks through the day, especially in the cooler hours of morning and late afternoon, and it is most conspicuous during the drier months when prey is concentrated in short vegetation.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Watch from a vehicle or at a distance with binoculars rather than walking directly toward a hunting or perched bird, since flushing it wastes energy it needs for hunting.
- Nesting birds, which often use tree hollows or old stick nests, are more sensitive and should be given a wide berth, particularly during incubation.
- Wildlife protections for raptors are set at the state or territory level across its Australasian range, so specific legal distances vary and the cautious approach is to keep well back and let the bird continue foraging undisturbed.
LCAvesFalconiformesFalconidae
Seasonal Activity
309,241 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.