Birdland

The American Kestrel is about 10 ½” long and has a wingspan of about 23”, making it the smallest falcon. Sometimes called a Sparrow Hawk, it is the only Kestrel found in the Americas. As noted in National Geographic’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America, they feed on insects, reptiles and small mammals, and, in the winter, sometimes eat small birds. Their distinctive call is a shrill, killy, killy, killy. This American Kestrel was photographed in January along the South Platte bike trail. Photo by Park Hill resident Mark Silverstein