From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishkestrelkes‧trel /ˈkestrəl/ noun [countable] HBBa type of bird that is like a small falcon
Examples from the Corpus
kestrel• Later I trained a kestrel which I found much less inquisitive and more likely to come straight to me for the food.• These values contrast with correlations between the barn owl and kestrel samples of r 0.189-0.355.• The barn owl and kestrel samples examined here were drawn from widely different parts of their global range.• Keep a look out too for buzzards soaring over the crags which surround you, and also for the odd kestrel.• Meanwhile a pair of kestrels has produced four young in a disused ventilation pipe in a raw materials store.• True to habit, the kestrel stood motionless, waiting to begin an afternoon of hunting at Hidden Waters Preserve.• A more extreme development of this pattern is seen in the kestrel, peregrine and buzzard prey assemblages.• Two kestrels hovered at the railway siding.Origin kestrel (1300-1400) French crécerelle, from crécelle “rattle” 