{"id":109584,"date":"2023-01-13T03:53:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T10:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109584"},"modified":"2023-01-13T04:29:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T11:29:29","slug":"female-american-kestrel-on-a-tree-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/13\/female-american-kestrel-on-a-tree-top\/","title":{"rendered":"Female American Kestrel On A Tree Top"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent a few moments photographing a gorgeous female American Kestrel<\/span><\/a> on a tree top yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA. The light was variable due to clouds overhead and the sunlight passing through them.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale American Kestrel on a tree top \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I found the female kestrel from a distance I wasn’t sure that she would stick around when I drove my Jeep towards where she was perched. I am glad that she did. I was able to take a long series of images of her.<\/p>\n

\"TreeTree top American Kestrel female \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The female American Kestrel’s warm colors contrasted nicely from the blue winter sky. She seemed to be resting and not in hunting mode even though she looked around frequently.<\/p>\n

\"SaucySaucy looking female American Kestrel \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought the kestrel looked saucy in this photo. Tiny but fierce and in complete control of herself and her small section of the world. American Kestrels are one of my favorite birds to have in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale American Kestrel gazing off into the distance \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after I took this photo a flock of European Starlings flew into the area and landed on another nearby tree. The female kestrel took off and flew in their direction. I drove my Jeep towards her but she had flown off before I could get to that tree.<\/p>\n

At that point in time I thought the female kestrel might be the only close up bird that I’d photograph yesterday. There weren’t all that many birds at Farmington Bay. Eventually I did find three more birds in my viewfinder which I will share soon.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Kestrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent a few moments photographing a gorgeous female American Kestrel on a tree top yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,155,6577,4199,4078,4279,5632,4070,6276,4892,4094,4104,13191,4427,4095,373],"class_list":["post-109584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-branches","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-falcons-of-utah","tag-female","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-seed-pods","tag-tree","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-kestrel-female-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-8016.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-svu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75314,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/13\/merlin-and-american-kestrels-two-falcon-species-in-a-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":109584,"position":0},"title":"Merlin And American Kestrels – Two Falcon Species In A Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Any time I can see and photograph two falcon species in a single day is a great day and yesterday I photographed a Prairie Merlin and several American Kestrels.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Prairie Merlin perched in a tree, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-female-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-female-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female American Kestrel perched on an old post, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-kestrel-female-get-off-my-lawn-look-mia-mcpherson-2637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-kestrel-female-get-off-my-lawn-look-mia-mcpherson-2637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-kestrel-female-get-off-my-lawn-look-mia-mcpherson-2637.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-kestrel-female-get-off-my-lawn-look-mia-mcpherson-2637.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14865,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/01\/peek-a-boo-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":109584,"position":3},"title":"Peek-a-boo Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have always liked this American Kestrel image because of the pose and how the female kestrel appears to be peeking at me while she preened.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peek-a-boo female American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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perched high on a crabapple tree next to a road near the Jordan River and pleased that she stuck around for a few photos.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female American Kestrel perched in a crabapple tree, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-crabapple-winter-mia-mcpherson-6129.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-crabapple-winter-mia-mcpherson-6129.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-crabapple-winter-mia-mcpherson-6129.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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