Description:

Medium sized, long, rather broad tail; wing-tips more rounded than on most falcons. Male has grey head and tail, and rufous upperparts heavily marked with black. Female have rufous crown and nape streaked with black, diffuse and narrow dark moustachial stripe, rufous upperparts heavily marked with black, and dark barring on rufous tail.

Distribution:

Common resident and altitudinal migrant in all the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan. Adaptable to great variety of open or moderately wooded terrains up to 4000m. In cultivation, grassland and semi-desert in mountains and open alpine slopes.

Behavior:

Normally hunts from rather low flight or from perch, carefully surveying the ground; frequent characteristic hovering flight to detect small mammals and other terrestrial prey. Prey taken in air mainly insects. Mainly feeds on small mammals; voles, with some mice and shrews; open-area passerines normally less important, although fledglings often seasonally important; also lizards and insects.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Eurasian Kestrel in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Eurasian Kestrel

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.