Kestrel

Afterwork: Cropped, Bordered, Sharpened.


Project W.I.L.D. Exhibit 2007 Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis


This falcon is one of the few true birds of prey whose sex can be determined by coloration. The male has bluish-slate gray on top of his head with a ferruginous (chestnut) crown and bluish-slate gray wings. The back is almost completely ferruginous. They have a whitish breast, suffused with light amber-brown, and under parts spotted with black. The tail is red with a black sub-terminal band and white tip.

The female’s back, wings, and tail are broadly barred with ferruginous and dark brown. They lack the bluish-gray on the head and wings that the male has. The under parts are white streaked and barred on the flanks in cinnamon, along with a brown spotted breast and abdomen.

Prey consists mostly of small rodents, reptiles, insects, and an occasional small bird hence the common name of "Sparrowhawk." American Kestrels have been photographed killing prey as large as a wood rat.

The cry of an American kestrel is a fairly high pitched "qui, qui, qui" or a short, shrill chatter "ki-wee, ki-wee, ki-wee."

American kestrels are able to hover. Many birds can hover for a short period of time, but few can sustain it for long since it is an energy draining exercise. Prolonged hovering is mainly limited to specialists such as the kestrels of the Old and New Worlds. But even these birds do no more than fly steadily into a light wind as they lack the muscle power to hover properly in still air.

Like all falcons, American kestrels have evolved for speed in flight and can dive at speeds of up to 65 m.p.h. To achieve this speed, its wings are slender and pointed and it is amazingly light, weighing only about 1/4 pound.

Falconry became a serious sport in England in 1066. You could tell the rank of an Englishmen by the falcon he carried on his wrist. The Old World kestrel were carried by priests.



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