American Kestrel

Halconcito Colorado

Falco sparverius

Length: 250mm. Sexes unlike. Male: bill slate grey with black tip; cere and eyelids yellow; iris very dark brown; anterior part of forehead whitish extending as a thin supercilliary stripe over the orbital region; remainder of forehead and crown bluish plumbeous grey with a reddish spot in the centre of crown; nape reddish with black spot; chin, throat, foreneck and cheek white, black moustachial stripe; black covering ocular area and extending as a thin postorbital band and broadening around the posterior auricular patch. Back and scapulars reddish chestnut barred on black; rump and uppertail coverts reddish chestnut; rectrices reddish chestnut with fine white terminal band and subterminal black band; outer tail feathers with outer vexillum white spotted with black; underside of tail is reddish buff with a subterminal black band and a terminal white band. Breast buff with black spots; flanks white with black striation and spots; abdomen, thighs and undertail coverts white. Lesser and median wing coverts bluish plumbeous grey with black spots, greater coverts likewise; secondaries and tertiaries bluish plumbeous grey with broad black basal band; primaries black with thin white terminal band; underwing coverts and axillaries white with blackish grey spots. Legs orange. Female: bill and iris as male; head likewise but lacking the red spot on centre of crown; upper parts, rectrices and wing coverts cinnamon reddish barred with blackish brown; secondaries cinnamon reddish with blackish brown basal band and narrow white terminal band; primaries as male. Breast and flanks light cinnamon ochraceous striated with cinnamon chestnut; abdomen, thighs and undertail coverts white. Legs orange.

Young of both sexes resemble adults but are duller in colour and are more heavily spotted. Habitat and behaviour: the American Kestrel, also known as Cernícalo, is the most widespread and commonest of the true falcons. It is usually found in pairs. It inhabits all kinds of environments such as open forested fields, steppes, plateaus, mountain regions, wood edges and scrubland. These birds perch on exposed places, such as dry logs, telephone posts, wire fences and rock walls. Identification is straightforward owing to its small size, coloration, long and pointed wings, and long tail.

It is frequently encountered on the sides of roads; usually tame. A fast flier, it feeds basically on small rodents, birds, lizards and insects; when it preys on birds it strikes them in full flight; to capture voles it usually hovers and then dashes downwards. Once the prey is secured, it often eats it perched in trees and posts. The nest is made in tree holes and cavities in rock walls and slopes; the eggs, numbering up to five, are buffy cream with reddish and dark brown markings. It is a very useful bird on account of the large quantities of rodents and insect it preys on. It is frequently found close to human settlements and will usually roost and even nest in crevices or holes found in houses or barns. Range: broadly distributed, it can be found from Alaska and Canada to the southern tip of South America. Its population is represented by 14 subspecies; of these, the race Falco sparverius cinnamominus occurs throughout Argentina; in Patagonia this race is very common and can be seen all along this region; occasionally at Islas Malvinas.