Kestrels have adapted to urban environments where they face specific welfare challenges from traffic, glass collisions, and reduced prey availability compared to traditional farmland habitat.
Urban kestrels face traffic mortality risk when hunting from roadside perches. Glass collisions cause acute injury and death in built environments. Reduced prey availability from intensively managed urban green space forces birds to travel greater distances and expend more energy per hunt. Younger birds are most vulnerable to both collision and starvation risks in their first winter. Urban planning that maintains rough grassland margins near roads directly supports kestrel welfare.