The American kestrel is North America’s smallest and most colorful falcon. Both males and females have gray on their heads and two black stripes on white cheeks. Adult males have bluish-gray wings; females have brownish wings. The back and tail are orange-brown, the male with a dark band near the end of the tail and the female with many dark bars. The breast is whitish to pale orange in males and streaked in females and immatures. Immature males have a streaked breast and a completely barred back. Immature females are difficult to distinguish from adult females.
The voice is a loud, shrill killy, killy, killy.
Similar species: In Missouri, it's hard to confuse the American kestrel with any other bird. They are the only small hawk with two black stripes on white cheeks. Peregrine falcons, which are being reintroduced to the state's urban areas, are about twice the size and have a single black wedge extending below the eye.
Length: 9–11 inches (tip of bill to tip of tail); wingspan: 20–23 inches.
Statewide. In winter, more common in southern Missouri than in the northern parts.
Habitat and Conservation
Kestrels are birds of open country, grasslands, farmland, and suburban and urban areas. They are often seen along highways, where they perch on telephone wires or hover over grassy medians as they hunt.
Kestrels are the only falcon or hawk on this continent to nest in cavities. Because many old-growth trees and snags are being cut or cleared, and with the conversion of habitat to monotypic grain farms, these beautiful falcons have declined in some areas.
You can help kestrels by setting up a special nest box for them. Information about nest boxes can be found on the American Kestrel Project website.
American kestrels are relatively secretive during breeding season and uncommon in winter. However, during spring and fall migration they are very common and easily observed along highways. March, April, September, and October are the main migration months.
They often perch on utility poles and wires or hover over grassy highway median strips. At first, they may appear dark, but if you can stop safely along the highway, this ornately colored falcon is well worth a closer look.
Food
Kestrels typically hunt from a conspicuous perch or hover like miniature helicopters. The flight is buoyant, graceful, and rapid, like a large swallow. They eat mostly insects and other invertebrates as well as small rodents, small birds, and small reptiles. Common foods include grasshoppers, cicadas, dragonflies, spiders, butterflies, voles, mice, and small songbirds.
Status
Common migrant; common winter resident in southern Missouri; uncommon summer resident statewide.
Life Cycle
Kestrels nest in cavities in trees, old buildings, cracks in cliffs, and occasionally purple martin apartments. Nesting usually begins in mid-March, and a clutch of 4–6 eggs is laid in early April. The female does most of the incubating for 28–30 days, while the male hunts for her. Young kestrels fledge from the nest after 28–30 days.
Kestrels are present in Missouri year-round, but they are most abundant during migration. In spring, the peak is in February and March; in fall, the peak is from mid-September through the end of October.
Human Connections
These small raptors are favorites of birders because of their graceful flight and attractive plumage. Many Missourians have built and installed nesting boxes so they can watch kestrels raise and feed families.
Ecosystem Connections
This efficient raptor hunts small prey and helps keep populations of those prey species in check. Kestrels, in turn, may be eaten by larger raptors, and their eggs and nestlings may be eaten by snakes.
Kestrels are cavity nesters, and in areas where large trees and dead "snag" trees with cavities are scarce, squirrels, owls, starlings, and other cavity-dwelling animals may compete for natural cavities as well as for next boxes constructed for kestrels. Putting up kestrel next boxes can help these small, bright falcons.
About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.