North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail.

The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Though has been called the American sparrowhawk, this common name is a misnomer; the American kestrel is a true falcon, while the Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, is not in the Falco genus and is thus genetically unrelated to the American ...

Our smallest falcon, the kestrel is also the most familiar and widespread in North America. In open country it is commonly seen perched on roadside wires, or hovering low over a field on rapidly beating wings, waiting to pounce on a grasshopper.

North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail.

The American Kestrel holds the distinction of being the smallest, most numerous, and widely distributed North American falcon. This tiny bird of prey encompasses two subspecies in North America and ranges from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in the southern tip of South America.

About the size of a Blue Jay, the American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America. Common nicknames for this scrappy little raptor include "sparrow hawk" (after the distantly related Eurasian Sparrowhawk), "grasshopper hawk," for one of its favorite prey items, and "killy hawk," due to its shrill call.

The American Kestrel is the continent’s most common and widespread falcon, but populations declined by an estimated 1.41% per year for a cumulative decline of about 53% between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

Learn more about American Kestrel from… Petite falcon roughly the same size as Mourning Dove, but with a larger head and wider tail. In flight, note long, narrow wings and square-tipped tail. Often seen perched on telephone wires, along roadsides, in open country with short vegetation and few trees.

The smallest and most common falcon in North America, the American kestrel is a hardy little bird, having been able to flourish enough to include 17 subspecies, surviving in different environments and habitats across the Americas.

The American Kestrel (pronunciation: Kess-Trell) is the smallest of the North American falcons. Widely distributed over varied habitats, it is also the commonest of all the falcons found in the country.