{"id":9793,"date":"2013-10-14T04:14:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9793"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:23:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T21:23:36","slug":"tiny-but-tough-female-american-kestrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/14\/tiny-but-tough-female-american-kestrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny But Tough – Female American Kestrel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale American Kestrel and a Vole – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I would describe American Kestrels as tiny but tough, they are North America’s smallest falcon but I don’t think that hinders them at all. American Kestrels are year round residents here in Utah and they have to tolerate some very harsh conditions during our long, cold winters.<\/p>\n

When I photographed this female American Kestrel in the winter of 2010 it was bitter cold and as I recall,there was plenty of snow on the ground and the morning fog hung heavy in the air. I didn’t see the kestrel catch the vole but I did see her feed on it rather voraciously.<\/p>\n

American Kestrel<\/span><\/a> populations are declining in many locations, even here in Utah their numbers seem to be dropping.<\/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 would describe American Kestrels as tiny but tough, they are North America’s smallest falcon but I don’t think that hinders them at all. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164421,"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":[4004,2663,4199,4279,4040,4070,4050,4957,5483,4290,373],"class_list":["post-9793","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-birds-of-prey","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcons","tag-feeding","tag-female","tag-snow","tag-tiny","tag-tough","tag-vole","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-vole-mia-mcpherson-9710.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2xX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14652,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/30\/female-american-kestrel-with-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":9793,"position":0},"title":"Female American Kestrel With Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"American Kestrels are fascinating falcons, they are tiny, colorful and at times quite pugnacious.","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 with prey in Utah, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-5625.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-prey-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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times I have photographed American Kestrels on this same exact post over the years.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American 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, 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Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 Kestrel with prey on a snowy day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-9662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-9662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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