American Kestral
Falco sparverius

A small falcon, roughly the size of a dove, the American Kestrel has the tell tale facial markings of the falcon family - "sideburns and a mustache." These markings are typically dark to black in color. Its wings are long and slim, and its underside is light colored with brown streaks. The female and the male Kestrel have different colorations. From above and from wing to tail, the female is rufous colored. However, the male's wings are blue-gray. The tail of the male has a black terminal band, and his chest is buff colored with small black spots along the sides. No other small bird of prey has such distinctive markings.

Kestrels are often seen sitting very erect on power lines with tail bobbing almost rhythmically. They typically hunt from utility wires along the roadside. When flying they hover on rapidly beating wings and then drop to the ground to snatch their prey. These raptors mainly consume insects and small rodents, but they will eat the occasional bird, snake, amphibian and even a worm.

This raptor lays 3 to 5 buff colored, rusty flecked, eggs. The Kestrel makes no nest of its own; it inhabits old woodpecker cavities, niches in buildings, and it can even be found in specially made nest boxes. The male Kestrel will occasionally help in the incubation of the eggs. This behavior is quite rare in raptors.

Peregrine Falcon         Video (8.2 Mbytes MPEG)
Falco peregrinus

This bird of prey was also the victim of the pesticide DDT.  This rare bird is rebounding, however. It can be found in the skies over Bowling Green, Ohio on a clear day.  This maybe interesting considering that many birds prefer a different environment.  However, it makes perfect sense that this trained killer would want to live near its prey.  It feeds on small birds. With a descending swoop of 200 mph the small bird has little chance of escape.
The Peregrine Falcon is a medium-to-large sized raptor. Like other falcons, it is easily recognized by its dark head, distinctive dark "sideburns," and subtle "mustache." The adult Peregrine is slate gray above and pale below. Its throat and breast are white to buff colored. The rest of its under parts are light colored with heavy, dark barring. It has a distinctly banded tail. The females are visibly much larger than the males, and they are brownish in color. Juveniles are similar to the adults in their markings but are darker and usually colored brown with heavier barring or streaking on their under parts. The young have a distinctive bluish color to their cere (the thick skin at the base of the upper beak containing the bird’s nostrils) and on the skin around their eyes.