A group of kestrels is called a flight, but they may also be called a soar.
Kestrels are among the smallest falcons in the world, best known for hovering motionless in mid-air while scanning the ground below, a hunting technique that shaped both of this bird’s collective nouns.
What Is a Group of Kestrels Called?
The most common term is a flight of kestrels, a general falconry term also applied to several other raptor species. Soar is a less common alternate that leans specifically into the bird’s characteristic hovering and gliding flight style.
Where Did the Name Come From?
Both terms come out of the old falconry tradition, where birds of prey were classified partly by how they moved through the air. “Flight” is one of the more generic falconry collective nouns, used across multiple raptor species rather than being kestrel-specific. “Soar” is more descriptive, pointing directly at the kestrel’s distinctive hover-hunting behavior, hanging almost motionless against the wind by rapidly adjusting its wings and tail, rather than a term drawn from any documented historical hunting record.
Kestrel Facts
- Habitat: Kestrels are highly adaptable, found in open grassland, farmland, deserts, and increasingly in urban areas with tall structures for nesting and hunting perches.
- Social behavior: Kestrels are largely solitary and territorial outside of breeding season, hunting alone rather than in coordinated groups.
- Diet: Small mammals, insects, and lizards, spotted from the air using exceptional eyesight, including sensitivity to ultraviolet light that helps them track rodent urine trails.
- Lifespan: Wild kestrels typically live 3-5 years, though banded individuals have been recorded living well over a decade.
- Distinctive: Kestrels can hover almost perfectly still in mid-air by facing into the wind and rapidly adjusting their wingbeats, a technique called “windhovering.”
Example Sentences
- A flight of kestrels patrolled the field margin, each bird hunting its own patch alone.
- Birdwatchers gathered to photograph a soar of kestrels riding the coastal thermals.
Other Names for a Group of Kestrels
Kestrels are also called a soar, a term that leans into their signature hovering flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of kestrels called?
A group of kestrels is called a flight, or occasionally a soar.
Do kestrels hunt in groups?
No, kestrels are largely solitary hunters, even when multiple birds are seen in the same area.
How do kestrels hover in place?
Kestrels face into the wind and make rapid, precise wingbeat adjustments to stay nearly motionless in the air while scanning the ground for prey.
Are kestrels the smallest falcons?
Kestrels are among the smallest falcon species, though a few, like the American kestrel’s smaller relatives, are even more diminutive.
Related: Collective Nouns for Birds