#1033 · 🐦 birds

American Kestrel

🇳🇱 Amerikaanse Torenvalk ·Falco sparverius

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in Europe, not in NL

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Josh van der Meulen · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
2. © SINEAD · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © rabbitlady101 · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Andrea Carpio · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Tommy Farquhar · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © shrike2 · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Jonathan Eisen · CC BY 4.0
8. © Kala Murphy King · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
9. © Bernardo Zorrilla · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The American kestrel ( Falco sparverius ), is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Formerly called "sparrowhawk", a misnomer as it is a true falcon and is unrelated genetically to the Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus . It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of a blue jay to a mourning dove.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 131,713iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
131,713 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).