BIRDS: American Kestrels

Several days ago, I heard an awful clatter outside my window. I looked out into the trees across the back patio and noticed a jay-sized bird attacking (or so I thought) a smaller bird. I grabbed my binoculars and to my surprise, I was looking at a medium sized falcon known as an American Kestrel.

For a few weeks, I have been observing a nest of Blue Jays in the brush below these trees. I thought perhaps that the smaller bird being attacked was one of the young Blue Jays who had escaped the nest. However, upon further viewing I noticed that the Kestrel wasn’t attacking the young bird, it was feeding it. It wasn’t a jay at all, but a young Kestrel a tad lighter than its parent.

I counted at least two young and possibly two adult Kestrels occupying the trees and field behind my building. According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, the father feeds the mother as she incubates the eggs, and continues to feed the young even after they leave the nest. I am fairly certain their nest was in the guttering of the abandoned bowling alley adjacent to the field since they seem to favor perching on its roof. Over the next few days, I watched the young Kestrels practice flying around the field as the adults brought them insects and mice, however today they seem to have moved on.