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Kessie
Kessie
is a female American Kestrel 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!
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American
Kestrels (Falco sparverius) 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 terminal tail band.
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 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 the mouse 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. 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 probably only reach diving speeds up to 50 or 60 MPH.
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 associated with open grassland areas and 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 without air
movement. Other birds known to accomplish this feat are
hummingbirds and kingfishers.
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