The smallest member of the Falcon family in North America, the American Kestrel. Lisa Chelenza has more, in this edition of Pet Pointers.
The American Kestrel is the smallest of the falcon family found in North America and is also known as the Sparrow Hawk. This Kestrel was found as a juvenile by an inexperienced rescuer with good intentions. His broken wing did not heal properly and he will never fly again and will never return to the wild.
Animal educator and rescuer Diana Sleiertin is transporting him to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. She tells us more about the unique qualities of the Kestrel.
"An interesting thing that you can't notice on him because his tail feathers have been damaged, as well as his flight feathers -- but when they grow back in the have a beautiful long tail. And this allows them to uniquely hover over their food and none of the other raptor birds do that," said Sleiertin.
Centuries ago Kestrels were used in the sport of falconry and were effective despite their diminutive size.
"You were allowed to use falcons and hawks on different levels depending on where you were in the caste system. So, nobility would have used larger birds like hawks and eagles and the more common individuals would have used the smaller birds like the Kestral," said Sleiertin.
If you are inspired to participate in falconry -- it is best to join a club and learn about the sport from those currently involved. Wild birds of prey are illegal to keep as pets and need specialized care to be reintroduced into their natural habitat.
If you find an injured bird call a wildlife rehabilitator and get advice on what to do next and be careful not to further injure the bird by handling them too much.