{"id":2799,"date":"2011-07-20T08:18:42","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T14:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2799"},"modified":"2025-11-21T04:48:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:48:26","slug":"american-kestrel-male","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/20\/american-kestrel-male\/","title":{"rendered":"American Kestrel Male"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale American Kestrel on Antelope Island after a snow –\u00a0 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, +1.0, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Kestrel<\/span><\/a> is our smallest falcon in North America but what they lack in size I feel they make up for in attitude.<\/p>\n

This bird was perched on dried vegetation on Antelope Island State Park this past winter. There had been a light snow overnight and some of the snow was still sticking to the branches of the greasewood.<\/p>\n

Because of the blue sky in the background I had to raise my EV to +1.0 so that the kestrel would not appear too dark.<\/p>\n

I’d rather get the exposure right in the camera than to try to raise the dark tones in post processing because that can introduce unnecessary noise.<\/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":"

The American Kestrel is our smallest falcon in North America but what they lack in size I feel they make up for in attitude. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164304,"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":[152,511,27,26],"tags":[4004,155,4021,3981,11978,4199,4078,4279,4005,6276,4892,4062,519,808,4104,4063,4050,102,373],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-bird-photography","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-male","tag-nature","tag-not-baited","tag-perched","tag-raptor","tag-snow","tag-wildlife","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-perched-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-7638.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-J9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3957,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/01\/06\/a-preening-american-kestrel-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":2799,"position":0},"title":"Preening American Kestrel ~ Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"American Kestrels hold a special interest for me, they are North America's smallest falcon but what they lack in size they make up for in attitude. These falcons can be fiesty.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Kestrel resting on rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.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-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6801,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/16\/male-american-kestrel-lifting-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":2799,"position":1},"title":"Male American Kestrel Lifting Off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Kestrel lifting off from a post, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7976.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-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7976.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7976.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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