kestrel

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɛstɹəl/

Noun

kestrel (plural kestrels)

1. Any of various small falcons of the genus Falco that hover while hunting.
   • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, book 3 chapter 6

     When she was musing she was a kestrel, which hangs in the air by an invisible motion of its wings.

   • 1917, John Masefield, Up on the Downs

     Up on the downs the red-eyed kestrels hover,

     Eyeing the grass.

     The field mouse flits like a shadow into cover

     As their shadows pass.

2. The common kestrel, Falco tinnunculus.

Synonyms

• (common kestrel) windhover, staniel

Translations

• French: crécerelle
• German: Falke
• Italian: falco, falcone
• Portuguese: falcão
• Russian: пустельга́
• Spanish: cernícalo

Translations

• French: faucon crécerelle, crécerelle
• German: Turmfalke
• Italian: gheppio
• Portuguese: peneireiro-vulgar
• Russian: пустельга́ обыкнове́нная
• Spanish: cernícalo común

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