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Kestrel Handing Mouse To Baby

I watched the female baby Kestrel on the right get very excited as her dad (on left) flew in with a mouse for her breakfast. Here he is handing it over to her. There were 5 babies altogether, all fledged, keeping their parents very busy as they still all needed to be fed, as well as protected from the neighborhood great horned owl that had his eye on them.

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.”

I photographed these American Kestrels in Brighton, Colorado, early in the morning on June 24th, 2017.