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Flying Kestrel with Mouse

This male American Kestrel has the mouse in his beak rather than in his talons because he is delivering it to his babies in the nest. I watched him carry it over in his talons, and then he switched it to his beak so he could more easily deliver it. The parents worked so very hard, delivering two mice and a bunch of bugs, mostly crickets, in the two hour period I was watching.

Photo taken June 17, 2017 in Thornton, Colorado.

From Cornell: “North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It’s one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes.”