Category: American Kestrels

Just a Shot That I Like…#2 – American Kestrel In Dramatic Light

Directional, moody lighting is an acquired taste for some – at least it was for me when I first starting photographing birds.  Now I’m a fervent convert to the genre, especially when I can get a pleasing setting that I like to go along with it.   1/640, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc On this cold February morning of this year I’d been out shooting Northern Harriers but tremendous winds came up so I decided to call it a day.  On the way out of the refuge I noticed this male American Kestrel higher up in a tree and decided to pull up and see what might happen, since he wasn’t in a good position for photography at first.   Soon, in an obvious attempt to get out of the howling wind, he flew down and landed on this stump almost at ground level.   The problem was that he was in deep shade.  But because of the wind blowing all the tree branches around, occasionally some side light would strike him.    I took a few shots without high hopes of getting anything I liked.  I was pleasantly surprised with a few of the images when I looked at them and this is one of them. I quite like the setting and light in this shot.  The detail is very good, especially at a larger size because I was very close to the bird.  Some may think the brightness of the grass stems on the left are less than ideal but personally I’m fine with them.  I was pleased that f/8 gave…

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American Kestrel, Preening and Stretching

This slightly wet and bedraggled (but still handsome) male kestrel was quite wary of me as I approached him on his favorite perch.      1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 500, EV +0.67  American Kestrels are notoriously difficult to get close to and several times he nearly flew off as I slowly worked myself within good shooting distance.  But it had been a cold morning and these birds are more “sticky” in the chill so he allowed me a relatively close approach.       1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, EV +0.33   Soon after he became comfortable in my presence the warming sun came out (as you can tell by the difference in background in the first two images) and he began to preen.  I got many interesting images of him working on his tail feathers but this one shows the eye best.  For protection of their eyes they typically close them as they run a feather through their beak.     1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33  And then he began a long, slow stretch – first by fanning his tail…     1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33  and then stretching out his left wing downward.  As you can see, they often stretch all three “limbs” at the same time – tail, wing and leg.      1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33 When it was over he fluffed up his feathers and held this position, with one foot up, for quite a while to enjoy the warmth of the sun.  I have many photos of perched kestrels but I don’t often get…

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American Kestrels – What They’ll Eat and What They Won’t.

 I’ve always found it fascinating to watch these little falcons eat.  A gruesome experience to be sure but so much more interesting than observing a raptor such as an owl who simply swallows its prey whole.  And if you watch carefully there’s a whole lot more going on during the process than first meets the eye.  Kestrels can be pretty picky eaters.  I’ve documented in another post on this blog that they often refuse to eat the intestinal tract of their prey and deliberately discard it.  Kestrels, like other raptors, eject pellets of indigestible materials like fur, feathers, chitin and bone.  All food that is swallowed first goes to the crop.  From there the usable food continues on to the stomach but the indigestibles stay in the crop, are formed into a pellet and regurgitated roughly 23 hours (in the case of kestrels) after the meal was consumed.    Canon 7D, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500mm f/4, 1.4 tc The kestrels I’ve watched eating voles and mice typically eat the brain, decapitate the rodent, then go for the soft internal protein rich muscles and other organs (discarding the intestines).   Since kestrels tear their prey into bite-sized pieces they can pick and choose what they actually swallow.      Canon 7D, 1/400, f/8, ISO 640, 500mm f/4, 1.4 tc Pellet expulsion can be difficult and traumatic as I’ve documented elsewhere on this blog with Northern Harriers and I suspect that’s one of the reasons that kestrels try to avoid swallowing as much fur as possible.  When opening up the body cavity they often get a beak-full of…

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American Kestrel – The Killing Bite

I have watched American Kestrels consume their prey up close many times.  Usually that prey has been a vole but occasionally it’s been a small bird or mouse.  But until this day the prey had always been already dead when I arrived on the scene.  It was cold and snowy when I spotted this male kestrel with a mouse (I was surprised it wasn’t a vole) that was still very much alive.   As a side note I want to add here that this kestrel was not baited.  Many photographs are taken of raptors when they’ve been baited by mice (they can be bought at pet stores) that have been provided as an enticement by the photographer.  That was not the case here – I do not bait.       Male kestrel with live mouse It was obvious that the mouse was alive because it was struggling slightly, its tail was twitching and its eyes were open.  In my experience these birds often prefer a more stable perch than this while they eat their meal – something like a fencepost or pole that provides some kind of platform from which to eat.  So I didn’t think he would eat the mouse here and I was right.  He gave me time for a few quick shots and then flew off to another perch.     Kestrel on second perch He didn’t go far however and I was able to approach him again.  This next perch was also precarious to eat from because the wind was blowing and both perch and bird were swaying in the breeze. …

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The Frustrations of Unnatural Perches

Most bird photographers prefer their subjects to be on natural perches.  We are, after all, nature photographers.  The definition of just what is “natural” becomes a slippery slope for sure but for my purposes I’ll define a natural perch by exclusion – it does not include buildings, telephone poles and wires, chunks of concrete, signs, or most anything else that is obviously man-made. Now for my exceptions.  Some objects that are man-made and have a “rustic” quality are often acceptable.  Weathered fence posts, old barns and rusty barbed wire would be examples.  One of the major frustrations of bird photographers is to be able to finally get close to a beautiful subject in good light but the bird has chosen an ugly or inappropriate (for us) man-made perch.  It is typically very difficult to approach many bird species close enough to get excellent detailed photos, even with big expensive lenses.  So it can be aggravating in the extreme to finally get close enough but the bird has chosen an unappealing perch.  Some folks choose to largely avoid this problem by shooting at “setups” where the bird has been unnaturally lured into an artificial situation by provided food with attractive perches arranged close by.  To many of us this is not nature photography but more like studio or zoo photography.  Good bird photography ain’t easy.  If it were it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying when I do finally get the shot I’m after – even though the pursuit has often been frustrating.  Below are some of the situations where I’ve been frustrated by these unattractive, unnatural perches.        Most bird photographers know…

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American Kestrels Rejecting Intestinal Tract of Prey

  Several times I have photographed American Kestrels discarding the intestinal tract of their prey.  The prey has always been a vole or mouse when I’ve seen it happen, though it may occur with small birds also.  I was surprised by this behavior.  Every time I’ve seen it happen has been during our harsh winters when I would assume every last morsel of food would be significant for their survival. Below is a series of photos where a female American Kestrel demonstrates the behavior with a vole kill. Female kestrel begins to pull small intestine out of a vole And deliberately drops it      The cecum? is discarded:  the intestine is still attached to the body and hanging down the side of the post   She pulls more intestine out of the vole   Breaks it loose from the body      And deliberately drops it to the ground   Finally, she pulls out the last of the small intestine, which she also dropped I know of others who have seen similar behaviors in other raptors – a variety of hawks and Osprey.  Several theories to explain it have been mentioned by bird photographers and others who have seen my photographs.  Among them: “These organs are filled with potentially harmful bacteria”.  Then how are many raptors, owls for example, able to consume their prey whole without harmful effect? “These organs are filled with food of low value to the kestrel (vegetative matter). Why fill up on carbs when it’s protein you need?  Begs  the question – Would they also discard intestines of insectivorous birds?  I don’t know……

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