RANGE: North America

HABITAT: Open savanna-like areas with a few trees, forest edges near open areas, farmsteads, suburbs, city parks, desert areas with cactus.

SIZE: LENGTH: 8-11 inches
WINGSPAN: 20-24 inches
WEIGHT: 3.4-5.3 ounces

LIFE EXPECTANCY:
WILD: 3-5 years
CAPTIVITY: Up to 14 years

REPRODUCTION: Prefer to nest in natural cavities found in trees, cactus, or cliffs. Will use man-made nest boxes and nest in building cavities. Dominant over most cavity nesting birds (woodpeckers and flickers), chipmunks and squirrels. Compete intensely with screech owls for nest sites. Eggs of both kestrels and screech owls have been found in same nest. Average clutch size of 5 eggs laid at 2 day intervals. Female responsible for most of the incubating but male does 3-4 hours daily. Incubation period of 29-31 days, fledging of the young occurs at 29-31 days. Because of efficient parental defense there is a high survival rate for fledglings.

DIET: Snakes, lizards, bats, smaller birds, mice, voles, and insects (beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas)

BEHAVIOR: Like exposed perches such as telephone poles, wires, fence posts and dead branches on trees. Swift, erratic fliers (39 mph). They pump their tails and bob their heads while perched, especially when agitated. Are capable of hovering when hunting, a behavior seen frequently over highway medians.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Smallest and most common falcon in north America. Often called, incorrectly, sparrow hawks. Have long wings and tail, typical of falcons. Air Force designed fighters using falcons' wing design. Only north American raptor with circular nostrils. Sexually dimorphic (males and females aren't exactly the same). Similarly marked, but males have slate blue wings while female's are brown. They have "false eyes" on the nape of their neck, it is thought to be protective coloration (watching "eyes" will deter predators).

STATUS: In general the kestrel is the most common north American raptor. Estimated 1.2 million pairs not including the Neotropical component. However, the southeastern race paulus has been listed as "threatened" in Florida. The Florida populations have declined more than 80 percent since the early 1940's due to habitat loss.