	Despite its outward similarity, this species appears not to be closely related to the common kestrel. In fact, mtDNA cytochrome "b" sequence analysis places it at a basal position with regards to the other "true" kestrels (i.e., excluding the American kestrel and probably the grey African kestrels too). Its divergence is tentatively placed to around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary (Messinian to Zanclean, or about 7–3.5 mya). The morphological similarity with the common kestrel is most puzzling, but still it appears to betray the present species' actual relationships: the lack of a malar stripe seems ancestral for kestrels, and the grey wing colour unites the lesser kestrel with most other "Falco" species, but not the other true kestrels.