Kessie
Kessie is a female American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) who came
to us as an adult in June of 2000 from Moscow Idaho with a malaligned,
healed fracture of the left humerus, rendering her unable to fly.
Although she can no longer fly, Kessie loves sitting on her perch and having
people admire her at presentations!
American Kestrels are the smallest falcons in North America and are the
second smallest falcons worldwide. In most species of raptors, the
male and female look alike in appearance. DNA testing may be required
to be sure of the sex of a particular raptor. With kestrels, color
dimorphism between males and females makes visual sex determination easy.
Male American Kestrels have spots on their chests and bellies, a bluish-gray
streak on the top of their wings, and a solid, black sub-terminal band on
the end of their tail. Females, on the other hand, have brown stripes
on their chests and bellies, completely brown wings (no blue streak), and
multiple brown bars on their tails, rather than just one.
All falcons have a few unique characteristics in common: malar
stripes, a falcon's "tooth", nasal tubercles and long pointed wings.
Malar stripes, or the "falcon's mustache", are black stripes that run
vertically down the sides of a falcon's face and provide protection from
sun glare. The same principle is used by football players by
applying black paint below their eyes.
A falcon's "tooth" is a small projection that all falcons have at the
distal part of their upper beaks. A notch to accommodate the
falcon's "tooth" is present in the lower beak. This "tooth" is
used to help kill prey quickly and efficiently. The falcon's tooth
fits neatly between the vertebrae of their prey and the bird clamps down
to snap the neck of its prey.
Falcons also have very long, pointed wings that help them dive at
breath-taking speeds. Their wings fold back sharply at the wrist
and when diving, they keep their wings tucked to their bodies to
decrease air resistance. American Kestrels are thought to reach diving
speeds up to 50 or 60 MPH! The Peregrine Falcon is the world's
fastest animal and is able to reach speeds over 200 MPH in a dive!
Talk about fast!
American Kestrels are not a threatened species. They are very
common and can be found throughout the continental U.S., in to Canada
and parts of Mexico and Central America. They are cavity nesters
and are associated with forested and open grassland areas. They
can be seen hunting from telephone wires to take mice, voles, insects
(especially grasshoppers), small songbirds, and occasionally small
snakes.
Kestrels are one of only a few birds that can actually hover in flight
on a windless day. Many other raptors such as hawks will hover the
air on thermals or other wind currents, but the kestrel can actually
remain stationary in flight with little air movement. Other birds
known to accomplish this feat are hummingbirds and kingfishers.
