science education resource

Kestrel (American)

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Falco sparverius
Kestrel (American)

Range

They can be found throughout North and South America.

Habitat

They live in almost any habitat that has open areas for hunting and tall places for it to perch.

Body Traits

They are the smallest falcon in North America, only reaching about 12 inches tall. They have slate-gray colored wings and a spotted breast and belly, a rust-colored tail and back and two up and down (vertical) black stripes on their face. They have a short, hooked bill, white cheeks, a long tail and long, pointed wings. Females have rust-colored wings and streaks on her breast. It was once called a sparrow hawk.

Habits

They live alone except during mating season. They like to perch up on trees and telephone poles to watch for prey. They can hover over their prey and then drop down to kill it.

Diet

They eat small mammals, small birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians.

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Reproduction

They are the only North American falcon that nests in tree holes or nest boxes. The female lays 3 to 7 eggs and does most of the warming of the eggs until they hatch (incubation). The eggs hatch in about 1 month.

Kestrel (American)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vetebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Species: F. sparverius

Citing Research References

When you research information you must cite the reference. Citing for websites is different from citing from books, magazines and periodicals. The style of citing shown here is from the MLA Style Citations (Modern Language Association).

When citing a WEBSITE the general format is as follows.
Author Last Name, First Name(s). "Title: Subtitle of Part of Web Page, if appropriate." Title: Subtitle: Section of Page if appropriate. Sponsoring/Publishing Agency, If Given. Additional significant descriptive information. Date of Electronic Publication or other Date, such as Last Updated. Day Month Year of access < URL >.

Here is an example of citing this page:

Amsel, Sheri. "Kestrel (American)" Exploring Nature Educational Resource ©2005-2024. March 25, 2024
< http://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/169 >

Exploringnature.org has more than 2,000 illustrated animals. Read about them, color them, label them, learn to draw them.