Lesser Kestrels Took Over an Abandoned Building

A migratory raptor wich spends its foraging time in West Africa and breeds in southern Europe.

Here in Doñana, there is a specific place in a daunting location where they breed . Unfortunately, we can’t say where it is located as local conservationists want to keep it protected from human disturbance, but it is quite a magical place: an old holiday complex now owned by Lesser Kestrels, Little Owls, Barn Owls, Spotted Starlings, White Storks and many other birds. An eerie place, so quiet we could hear our blood pumping in our bodies.

Every evening the Lesser Kestrels – different from the Common Kestrels which don’t migrate – would start roosting in the nesting boxes placed by local bird experts to increase the breeding success. The sounds of their squeaky calls echo in this abandoned place, where human presence is no longer found and wildlife thrives in a possibly unspoken collaboration misunderstood by both sides.