Species guide
American Kestrel: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe, North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © SINEAD · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Falco sparverius
- Family
- Falcons and Caracaras
- Size
- About 22–31 cm
- Habitat
- Open fields, farmland and roadsides, often on wires
- Found in
- Europe, North America and South America
The key marks
A small, colourful falcon with a rusty back and tail, two black face stripes and, in males, blue-grey wings.
Voice
A shrill, fast “klee-klee-klee”.
Good to know
It is North America’s smallest falcon and often hovers over fields looking for grasshoppers and mice.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open fields, farmland and roadsides, often on wires. It is especially common in Peru. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.