American Kestrel

Clio, Puck and Toto

Clio was injured as an adult in the spring of 2004 when she hit a car while fighting with another kestrel, in a mating or territorial dispute. She suffered severe head trauma, was blinded in the left eye, and may have impaired vision in the right. As a day-time hunter of birds, large flying insects, and small, quick rodents and lizards, a kestrel needs perfect vision in both eyes to survive.

Puck, when still young enough to be begging for food, landed on a boy's head at a baseball game during the summer of 2005! Realizing this was not normal behavior, the boy and his dad took the bird home and called the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA - their local nature center/rehabilitation facility. Museum staff determined that the bird was either a human imprint or at least too habituated to people to release, treated him for a puncture wound on his wing, and discovered he had a retinal tear in his right eye causing impaired vision. He was transferred to CRC in September 2005 to join our educational program.

Toto, the male (blue-gray wings), was brought into a rehabilitation center in Kansas during the summer of 1994 with a broken leg and very tattered feathers resulting from malnutrition. He was also missing his left eye, probably from a cat scratch. He had been raised illegally and is a human imprint. He was transferred to CRC in October 1994. After over 15 years as an ambassador, Toto passed away on January 11, 2010.

American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)

The most common and widespread falcon in North America, as well as the smallest and most delicate. Having the typical falcon shape -- a short neck, relatively small head, long and slender pointed wings, and a long tail - gives this bird a streamlined body designed for fast flight. Females are slightly larger than males, but unlike most birds of prey, the sexes have different plumages. Both have a rufous-red back and tail, double black stripes on white cheeks, and a gray head with a rufous crown patch. Wing color and pattern is the most noticeable difference: females have rufous barred upper wings, while males have wings of blue-gray with small black spots, with a row of white circles on a darker trailing wing edge. Flight of this small falcon is light and buoyant, with rapid, shallow wingbeats and short glides. Often seen in flight with the wingtips swept back, or hovering motionless in midair over prey. Head bobbing, and flicking the tail up and down are two commonly observed behaviors when this bird is perched.

Notes

Size

Status - State and federally protected

Habitat - Most often seen in open fields or pasture lands with scattered trees, woodland edges, and along highways - where scattered high perches near open land provide good hunting. This very versatile species can take advantage of a variety of habitats, from mountain meadows to desert plains and canyons. Within the breeding range, will be found wherever there are enough perches, nest sites, and open vegetation to support a food supply for their prey species.

Diet - Consists primarily of insects and rodents, other small mammals, and reptiles; small birds are also taken, mostly in winter when other prey are not as plentiful. Often hovers over prey before swooping down; hunts mostly in the morning and late afternoon, perching quietly at other times of the day. In summertime, grasshoppers and crickets will form much of the diet in many areas.

Call - With a voice higher in pitch than that of other raptors, kestrels will frequently give a shrill call of killykillykilly, or a screaming cry of kliklikliklikli.

Nesting - Likes old tree nesting holes of other bird species, tree hollows, holes in cliffs, in wall niches or under eaves in urban environments. Can be attracted to manmade nest boxes.

Most Common Problems - Collisions with vehicles or windows. Because these birds are willing to live close to humans, young often fledge into dangerous areas, such as manufacturing plants or lumber yards.

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