EXCEPT for the far North and escarpment regions of KZN, the greater kestrel is found mainly on the Highveld and dry western parts of South Africa.
Usually solitary or in pairs, this bird likes perching on telephone poles, fences, dead trees, termite mounds or low rocks.
They hunt from the perch, dropping their prey by stages to the ground and sometimes hovering. They may catch their prey under a grasstuft or stone.
Apart from small birds, mammals and reptiles, they feed on insects, scorpions, spiders and centipedes.
The Greater kestrel is usually silent but has a ‘kwirr’ courtship call and a sharp ‘chuk’ and ‘kwit’ call between the sexes.
The breeding season is July to January, and the bird’s nest is usually an old crow or raptors’ in a tall tree from two to 20m high. They lay three to five creamy, buff eggs and incubation lasts 32 to 33 days. Nestlings remain for 30 to 32 days.
They can often start hunting themselves just five days after leaving the nest.
The greater kestrel’s Zulu name is uTebetebana. Its Afrikaans name is grootrooivalk.
