{"id":18140,"date":"2014-12-23T17:12:22","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T00:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=18140"},"modified":"2025-11-22T08:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T14:14:12","slug":"female-kestrel-with-prey-on-a-snowy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/23\/female-kestrel-with-prey-on-a-snowy-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Kestrel With Prey On A Snowy Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been seeing plenty of American Kestrels lately but none have been close enough to get nice images of so I pulled this one out of my archives from 2010.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Kestrel with prey on a snowy day – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, prey captured by the bird
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Female American Kestrels aren’t nearly as colorful as the males but I adore the intricate plumage patterns they have on their backs, wings and tails. And I love their fierceness and attitudes towards larger birds, their prey and even people.<\/p>\n

This female kestrel with her prey was photographed at Farmington Bay WMA in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

American Kestrels are North America’s smallest falcon and in some areas their populations are declining. Efforts are being made to study populations numbers and nest box monitoring. American Kestrels<\/span><\/a> are cavity nesters so man made nest boxes can be a great help.<\/p>\n

Just be sure to install kestrel nest boxes in areas of habitat that the kestrels prefer.<\/p>\n

Snow, lots of it, is being predicted here for Christmas Day and that might just make these little falcons a bit stickier so I can get more images of them.<\/p>\n

Life is 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’ve been seeing plenty of American Kestrels lately but none have been close enough to get nice images of so I pulled this one out of my archives from 2010. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_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":[4004,155,3831,4199,4078,4279,4070,6276,4892,4094,5482,4106,153,4328,4095,373,8917],"class_list":["post-18140","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-declining-populations","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-female","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-marsh","tag-nest-box-monitoring","tag-prey","tag-raptors","tag-snowy","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-9662.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4IA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108592,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/10\/female-american-kestrel-urban-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":18140,"position":0},"title":"Female American Kestrel – Urban Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to have this female American Kestrel in my neighborhood and viewfinder after an overnight snow fell two days ago.","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 on a snowy light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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the American Pipit once again showed me why American Kestrels used to be called Sparrow Hawks which is why some people probably still use that name.","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 getting her balance back, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-balancing-mia-mcpherson-6255.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-balancing-mia-mcpherson-6255.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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