Peter Stone, age 12, of McAllen, Texas, for his question:

WHERE DO KESTRELS NEST?

A kestrel is the name used for any of several small members of the falcon family. Kestrels live in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. They nest in holes in buildings, cliffs and trees.

Kestrels also may use nests abandoned by other birds. In North and South America, they sometimes nest in cities. They may build their nests atop church towers or other tall buildings.

The American kestrel is sometimes called the American sparrow hawk, but it is not a hawk. The common kestrel, usually called simply the kestrel or the windhover, lives throughout much of Europe, Asia and Africa. Another Old World species is the lesser kestrel. It is found around the Mediterranean Sea in central Europe.

The American kestrel feeds mostly on insects while the common kestrel eats mice and other rodents.