Stats

Lifespan: 5-11 yrs
Size: Small
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Pair
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: The Americas
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

North America's smallest and most colorful falcon, with slate-blue wings and a rusty-red back and tail in males. Kestrels can see ultraviolet light, letting them spot the urine trails voles leave behind and track them straight to their burrows.

Life cycle

1.
egg
One or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
2.
hatchling
A downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
4.
adult
Fully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Species: Falco sparverius