Their tails are also reddish-brown with many bars.Īmerican Kestrels are the most common falcon with seventeen subspecies living in varied environments and habitats across the Americas. They have white bellies and breasts with rufous streaks. However, female American Kestrels have a general rufous coloring, particularly on their backs and wings, and their barring is more pronounced. They also both have two black spots at the back of their heads that deceives potential attackers when hunting from the rear. Their tails are reddish-brown with one broad black band and a white tip.įemale American Kestrels share similar traits with the males – rufous crowns, gray heads, white faces, and two black vertical slashes on the face. Their bellies and breasts are orange with brown spots, their backs are red-brown, their wings are blue-gray with white spotting, and they have yellow legs and feet. This is significant because most falcons only have one. Males and females have different colors and markings.Īdult Male American Kestrels have dark gray heads with varying amounts of rufous on the crown, white throats, blue-black bills, and unique vertical slashes on their white faces – one under their eyes and another behind their eyes. They are recorded in 1% of summer checklists and 18% of winter checklists submitted by bird watchers for the state.Īmerican Kestrels are the smallest and most colorful falcons in North America. American KestrelĪmerican Kestrels spend winter in Texas but they are also spotted in the west of the state all year. So what are you waiting for, see how many falcons you can spot in Texas. Rare or accidental Falcons in Texas: Gyrfalcon, Collared Forest-Falcon Falcons hunt in open spaces but hawks are often found in woodland.įalcons in Texas all year: Crested Caracara, Peregrine Falcon, Aplomado Falconįalcons in Texas in winter: American Kestrel, Merlin, Prairie Falcon Also, falcons are usually smaller and they have long thin wings rather than wide short wings like those of hawks. A common bird to use is a peregrine falcon.įalcons are different than hawks as they belong to different families, hawks are Accipiter genus, and falcons are Falco genus. Their beaks have a special tomial ‘tooth’ that they use to kill their prey, instead of their talons like most birds of prey.įalconry is the name given to hunting with captive-trained birds, which has been practiced for thousands of years. Other types of birds of prey you can spot in Texas include hawks, owls, eagles, and vultures.įalcons have thin, tapered wings that enable them to fly faster than a cheetah and turn with immense speed. They have amazing characteristics which make them unique. With species of falcons on every continent, except Antarctica, these birds are a bird to be reconned with. So there certainly are some top birds to spot if you like birds of prey. Also, the Gyrfalcon is the largest falcon in the world and it also lives in North America.
The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest bird of prey and the American Kestrel is the smallest bird of prey.
The common types are the American Kestrel, Crested Caracara, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Apolodo Falcon, and Prairie Falcon.įalcons are small and incredibly fast birds of prey that have the honor of having the fastest and the smallest bird of prey in North America. Six of these are regularly occurring (common) and two are rare or accidental species in the state.
Eight of the eleven types of Falcons found in North America have been spotted in Texas.
0 kommentar(er)
