And our first new bird this year is … an American kestrel! I never would have guessed it, that wasn’t even on my wish list. It’s North America’s smallest falcon, they only weigh about 100g and typically hunt small rodents, grasshoppers, dragonflies, or the occasional bird, but in much more open habitat than we have here in the yard. They have long pointed wings and the notched beak which are characteristic of falcons.

It was late afternoon and I noticed our resident songbirds were completely frozen in place on the feeders. Normally what that means is there must be a hawk around (Cooper’s or sharp-shinned.) I kept an eye out, looking for it out of the back patio door. Suddenly I saw something land in our maple tree and immediately thought kestrel, and quickly dismissed it because we don’t have those around here.

Looked again and confirmed that’s what it was, and got some good looks with the binoculars. It flew to a couple of different perches in the yard before leaving. Since there are no insects around, it was either hunting birds or maybe looking for a mouse. The only prey I noticed was a downy woodpecker and several mourning doves.

We are just on the northern edge of the kestrel’s winter range. I have seen them during the winter closer to the Rochester area and as far north as Cannon Falls. Now that spring is around the corner, they must be moving through. Hopefully he’s finding enough to eat in spite of the continued snow cover. Keep an eye out for kestrels in the warmer months, around open areas like cornfields. They can be seen perched on wires, or sometimes hovering stationary in the air, looking for prey below.

A few years ago there was a kestrel hanging out at Target field that would capture and eat moths flying around the stadium lights. He was on TV and there was some pretty cool video of him, shown during a Twins game.