The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Eurasia's counterpart to the American kestrel, is a familiar sight over the farmland and coastal meadows ringing the Baltic Sea. Lithuania sits squarely on one of its major autumn migration corridors, and late August through September is when local numbers swell as birds from further north pass through on their way to wintering grounds in southern Europe and Africa.
Males show a blue-grey head and tail against a rufous, black-spotted back; females and juveniles are rufous-brown all over with dark barring. Both sexes share the same hunting silhouette: long, pointed wings and a long tail, built for the hover-and-drop technique that gives the species its old English name, "windhover."
Unlike some falcons that migrate in loose flocks, kestrels tend to move singly or in very small, spread-out groups, following coastlines and river valleys rather than crossing open water where possible. Baltic coastal watch points regularly log dozens moving through on a good day with favorable northerly winds.
A bird that looks the same as its American cousin at a glance, but follows an entirely different migratory map — one that runs straight through the Baltic each autumn.