American Kestrels are one of the more common raptors ("bird of prey") found in the USA. They are the smallest falcons on the North American continent as a species and the smallest diurnal raptors. They can be found anywhere from Canada and Alaska south to Mexico, preferring open, partly open, and urban areas. Favorite nesting sites include cliff or tree cavities, old wooden fence posts, or man-made nest boxes. Kestrels may raise 2–3 broods per year, depending on prey availability and nesting space.
Some kestrels migrate to more southern latitudes during the winter and can live to be at least 10–15 years old in captivity. The male kestrel looks very different from the female. In a male, the wings are a solid slatey blue color, the head has a solid slatey blue cap and the tail is a solid chestnut brown with one dark terminal band and one white feather with black bars on each outside edge. The female has a slatey blue halo on her head, the wings are brown and black barred (some individuals have a light slatey blue wash on the wing as well) and the tail is chestnut brown with black bars all along its length. Both sexes have a noticeable black moustache mark dropping vertically below the eye. American kestrels weigh between 4–6 ounces, have a wingspan of 23 inches, and are 10 ½ inches in length.
Gimli came to us when he was just a few months old in 2014. Someone had illegally kept him as a chick and raised him, then let him loose on the grounds of the WV State Capitol. He is a firm human imprint, which means that he thinks that humans are his species. This led him to trying to get the attention of people as they went to work, landing on their heads, shoulders, and arms and causing injury. He was captured by a WV State Capitol police officer and transported to TRAC. He is a very popular Educational Ambassador! His diet consists mostly of mice; in the summer “juicy bugs” such as katydids, grasshoppers, and cicadas are included.