It’s in your nature: The American kestrel

The Times News coverage area has only one breeding falcon, the kestrel. I was introduced to these hawks as a youngster, and in the ’60s they were called sparrow hawks.

In fact, the Pennsylvania Game Commission information sheets and charts had to be revised after the official name change. Kestrels are not the only falcon species that can cross paths with you here. Merlins and peregrine falcons can be spotted if you: a. are very alert, or b. are just RPRT (right place, right time).

The kestrel is the smallest of the hawks in our state. It may surprise you that they are only 9-10 inches in length (a robin is 10 inches). The male and female differ in colors with the male having slate-blue wings and a bolder colored head. Males, females and immatures all sport double black facial streaks and help in identification.

As a type of hawk, you would, of course, expect them to be a predator. They are, but their food choices may surprise you. Kestrels, from spring through autumn, prey mostly on large insects. Grasshoppers, cicadas, crickets, dragonflies and butterflies are the most common prey items. In winter, those that remain here feed mostly on meadow voles. On occasion, summer prey could include a bird or small snake.

Kestrels are raptors of the open. Their preferred habitat is generally farming areas that still have fallow fields, fence rows and a few trees, posts or wires for perches. I generally find them perched on a utility wire where they scan the grass for prey. They can be distinguished from mourning doves by their shorter, thicker tail (not pointed like doves) and by their habit of moving their tail to maintain their balance. They do like open areas, but they need a few larger trees that supply a nesting cavity for them.

Kestrels are the only hawks that nest in cavities. They’ll normally utilize an old woodpecker hole or even nest in old barns or farm outbuildings. They will accept a man-made nest box. Place it on a post (with a predator guard) or on the side of a suitable building. The opening should face to the southeast. Do not add nesting material to the bottom of the box; they use little or no nesting material. Three or four young hatch after about a 30-day incubation, and both male and females will feed the young. (The male chooses the nesting location)

Kestrel populations have dropped every year since the late 1960s with increased pesticide use, more sterile farming practices and clearing of fence rows and nesting trees some of the causes. Though not scientific, Autumn kestrel migration numbers passing Hawk Mountain averaged nearly 600 birds yearly, from 1979 through 1981. While the past three seasons, kestrel numbers averaged 307. I suspect, as we noted other bird populations dropping, that our increased need for food production will continue the same pattern. Let’s hope this beautiful falcon holds on. …

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: You’re taking a March walk through the forests as the sun is melting the snow and you notice tiny black insects called snow fleas covering a 4-foot area like pepper droppings. Snow fleas are correctly called ____. A. mayflies, B. springtails, C. leaf hoppers, D. caddis flies.

Last Week’s Trivia: Canada geese have been recorded at an altitude of 9,000 feet.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.