Realization

Ever since my last entry, I've noticed so many amazing things about this cool American kestrel. To start off I figured out the sex of this bird! It turns out it’s a female. Female kestrels have more of a falcon look (left) and male kestrels have some blue feathers on its wings (right).

American Kestrel

According to identifywhatbird.com the females arrive first on their winter range and establish their territories in the preferred open areas. The males, arriving later are forced to use areas with more trees." "Maybe this explains why girls are always saying they're smarter than guys.

The American kestrel is considered a falcon even though it acts like a hawk, falcon and an accipiter at times. It's an exceptional hunter. I remember last summer, I would always find pieces of what seemed to be some sort of creature. I could never make out make creature it was but it seemed to be different every time.I figured they ate insects, maybe rodents, but never in a million years would I've know they ate other birds! They hunt House Sparrows and European Starlings. I don't know about you, but that's really unusual for me. I never knew birds could eat other birds.

I also found another weird but yet interesting fact about these amazing birds. "American Kestrel: Female is promiscuous, mating with two or three males prior to settling with a single mate." (Identifying What Bird) When I first found out about this my first impression was, "What's the point of doing this? Is she trying to figure out who does it better?" (I'll have to keep researching this and I'll let you know on a future blog).