Grey kestrel
Falco ardosiaceus Vieillot, 1823
The grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 228.5 g to 247.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the grey kestrel
- Weight
- 228.5 g – 247.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 58 cm – 72 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 28.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.9 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the grey kestrel?
Where does the grey kestrel live?
Not recorded
What is the grey kestrel?
The grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus) is an African bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. Its closest relatives are the banded kestrel and Dickinson's kestrel and the three are sometimes placed in the subgenus Dissodectes.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey kestrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey_kestrel&oldid=1314842470), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the grey kestrel endangered?
The grey kestrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the grey kestrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusFalco
- SpeciesFalco ardosiaceus Vieillot, 1823
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Gray kestrelEnglish
- GRKEEnglish
- Donker GrysvalkAfrikaans
- عوسق رماديArabic
- xoriguer grisCatalan
- poštolka šedáCzech
- cudyll llwydWelsh
- Grå TårnfalkDanish
- GraufalkeGerman
- ardeza falkoEsperanto
- Cernícalo GrisSpanish
- Cernícalo pizarrosoSpanish
- hall-tuuletallajaEstonian
- harmaatuulihaukkaFinnish
- Faucon ardoiséFrench
- Pocaire liathIrish
- siva vjetrušaCroatian
- szürke vércseHungarian
- Gheppio grigioItalian
- ハイイロチョウゲンボウJapanese
- pilkasis pelėsakalisLithuanian
- Grijze TorenvalkDutch
- skiferfalkNorwegian
- sokół ciemnyPolish
- francelho-cinzentoPortuguese
- peneireiro-ardósiaPortuguese
- Серая пустельгаRussian
- sokol sivýSlovak
- Bledosiva vetruškaSerbian
- skifferfalkSwedish
- Boz kerkenezTurkish
- Gri KerkenezTurkish
- боривітер сірийUkrainian
- Cắt xám châu PhiVietnamese
- 灰隼Chinese
Relatives of the grey kestrel
Other species in the same genus Falco.
Peregrine falcon
Falco peregrinus
Common kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
Eurasian hobby
Falco subbuteo
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Gyrfalcon
Falco rusticolus
Red-footed falcon
Falco vespertinus
CompareGrey kestrel vs Peregrine falconGrey kestrel vs Common kestrelGrey kestrel vs Eurasian hobbyGrey kestrel vs Merlin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the grey kestrel?
An adult grey kestrel weighs 228.5 g – 247.5 g and has a wingspan of 58 cm – 72 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the grey kestrel endangered?
The grey kestrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the grey kestrel?
The grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus) belongs to the family Falconidae in the order Falconiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-kestrel
“Grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-kestrel.
@misc{grey_kestrel_2026,
title = {Grey kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-kestrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}