| Description |
small falcon; long tail; long, pointed wing tips; rust colored crown, back and tail; double black stripes on white face resembling a mustache; hooked bill; in flight they have pale underwings |
| Sex |
male has blue-gray wings, a buff breast and white underparts with dark spots; in flight he has a row of circular white spots on the trailing wing edge; female lacks the blue-grey feathers that denote the male; her back and wings are roufous with pronounced barring |
| Age |
juveniles are similar to adults but with a heavily streaked breast and completely barred back |
| Length |
9-12" |
| Wingspan |
1.8-1.9' |
| Weight |
3-4 oz. |
| Habitat |
open country, deserts, urban areas, farms, wood edges |
| Status |
most common falcon in America |
| Range |
Range: North and South America, West Indies, Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile |
| Behavior |
monogamous; don't build nests; lay 3-7 buffy-pink to grayish-white eggs marked with brown in tree cavities, building crevices or old magpie nests; incubation lasts 29-31 days, generally by the female; chicks hatch semi-altricial and leave the nest after a month; 1 brood per year except in the south and when food is abundant; hunts by hovering over the ground with rapid wing beats or sitting on a tree or telephone wire and plunging after its prey; frequently bobs its tail while perched on telephone wires; use nestboxes often |
| Diet |
mice, insects and small birds, reptiles, small mammals |
| Vocalization |
shrill "killy killy killy" or "klee, klee, klee" |
| Other Information |
- The American kestrel was formerly known as the "sparrow hawk"
- Kestrels can frequently be seen "hovering" over the grassy areas of highway cloverleafs where they find an abundance of insects and rodents. A good example of how they have adapted their hunting skills to urban living |
