Latin name: Falco sparverius
Size: 8 to 12 inches long; wingspan is 20 to 24 inches
Texas habitat: Statewide
North America’s smallest and most numerous falcon flocks to Texas throughout fall and winter, hunting our grasslands and even our suburbs. With their acrobatic flying maneuvers and tawny and blue-gray plumage, American kestrels are a joy to watch. “They have that feisty attitude,” says Jim Bednarz, a professor and avian ecologist at the University of North Texas, in Denton, who studies kestrel migration patterns. “I like to call them badasses.” But kestrels are also experiencing a perplexing population decline.
Badasses? Tell me more.
These flashy fliers put on a show, defending their territory from much larger raptors, including red-tailed hawks, by dive-bombing them and pecking at their heads—all while shrieking rapid klee-klee-klee or killy-killy-killy warning calls. Think of them as the Chihuahuas of the bird world.
How would I know if they were on the hunt?
After hovering midair and diving—or “stooping”—as fast as 60 miles per hour to catch insects, rodents, reptiles, and even bats and small birds (they were formerly called sparrow hawks), kestrels use their tomial tooth, a notch in their bill, to quickly sever their prey’s vertebrae. They’re commonly observed “feaking,” or wiping blood off their beak, postmeal.
Why are they in trouble?
Kestrels are listed as a “species of least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but scientists worry. “Kestrels are declining in most of their range in North America,” says Jessica Schlarbaum, of the Peregrine Fund. Researchers haven’t pinpointed an exact cause—it’s likely some combination of climate change, habitat loss, pesticides, and other factors. But there’s reason to hope. “We’re intervening early and trying to identify the causes of decline,” Schlarbaum says. “There’s a lot of research and a lot of funding going into this.”
When and where can I see kestrels in Texas?
Mid-November through February is peak viewing time. Look for these robin-size raptors perched on power lines and fences or hunting in open fields. “They’ve adapted to urban environments,” Bednarz says. “So stadiums are great spots to watch them do their thing.”
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “American Kestrel.” Subscribe today.
