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American Kestrel Falco sparverium  female
Average Length:
| 9-12 inches | Average Wing Span:
| 20-24 inches | | Average Weight: | Male: 3 ½ to 4 ounces | | | Female: 4 ½ to 5 ounces
| | | | Breeding Season:
| Mid-April to Early June | Incubation Period:
| 29-30 Days
| Brood Size:
| 3-5
| | | | | Diet: | Wild: Mice, grasshoppers, other insects. | | | Captive: Bird of Prey Diet, mice, chicken, quail | | | | Status in Illinois:
| Common |
 male
The American kestrel is found in a variety of habitats including parks, suburbs, open fields, forest edges, alpine zones, and deserts. It hunts mostly in the morning and late afternoon, flying with rapid wing beats and short glides over open country. It circles about, often stopping in midair to hover, on rapidly beating wings, over a point of interest. It then flaps or glides to a new location to hover again. If a kestrel spots its prey, it partly folds it wings, drops and swoops to the ground to grasp a mouse or insect in its talons and carries it up to a perch to eat. Kestrels swallow small insects whole, but with large grasshoppers or a mouse, they will bite the off pieces while grasping it with both sets of talons. The American kestrel can reach normal flight speeds of up to 40 m.p.h.
It prefers nesting holes in trees abandoned by flickers or other birds. It will also inhabit hollows in trees or cactuses, and sometimes, old magpie nests. Kestrels may also nest in a hole in a cliff, or within cities and towns where there is an abundant supply of house sparrows and insects. It will even nest in niches in walls and holes under gables, or in bird boxes built especially for them.
Incubation is mostly by the female. The female will call the male from the nest hole for food. The young leave the nest 30-31 days after hatching.
Kestrels are one of only a few birds of prey which exhibit sexual dimorphism (males and females look different). Males have a bluish-gray wing, while the larger female has a brown wing.
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