Female Kestrel In Flight And Casting A Pellet

This female American Kestrel is the apparent mate to the male I posted two days ago. Both falcons were perched next to each other when I approached them 3 days ago in Tooele County but the more shy male flew a few feet and hid behind the cross beams of the power pole.

 

american kestrel 1874 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

But his lady was stickier and stood her ground and soon a possible reason for that became apparent (this image is out-of-order but all the rest are in sequence).

 

 

american kestrel 1819 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

She had some digestive issues to attend to before she flew off. She worked hard at trying to hack up a pellet.

 

 

american kestrel 1820 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

When it came out it was in several small pieces of varying color (in my experience kestrel pellets are usually larger than this and in a single mass).

 

 

american kestrel 1828 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

She had several difficult bouts of hacking and each time more indigestible material was expelled.

 

 

american kestrel 1831 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

She seemed to struggle most with the last little bit. Here she protruded her tongue further than I usually see during this process.

 

 

american kestrel 1875 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in

 When it was over she quickly regained her composure and both birds flew off and as she did so…

 

 

american kestrel 1876 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in

I was lucky enough to get a single flight shot that didn’t include any of the unattractive perch.

Pellet casting isn’t pretty and it can be uncomfortable, even stressful for the bird but I’m always happy to photograph the behavior.

Ron

 

 

 

 

11 Comments

  1. It’s amazing enough to see such action, even more so to capture it…UGH but really COOOOL!!!

  2. It is difficult to look at the pellet-casting pictures, but good to know about the process. And it’s clear from the photos how much difficulty she is having. I love both the lift-off and the flight shots. It almost looks like she’s checking to make sure you have your camera focused and ready for her. I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful Kestrels are.

  3. Fabulous series here. Deborah, I’d have been one of the girls going with “COOL”. 😀

  4. Ron – an absolutely wonderful set of pictures. I have not seen a Kestrel do this before. I will have to pay special attention in the future in order to see this. The photo quality was remarkable. Thanks so very much for sharing them and giving your in depth explanations on your first hand experience.

  5. Good for you for sticking with the “lady” through the gross part–you definitely got rewarded for your constancy with some very COOL shots !

    • Kris, I was going back and forth between the male and the female with my lens. I was just lucky to get the pellet casting sequence and both birds lifting off.

  6. I was doing a program for 8th graders in Gallup last year, handling a female Kestrel. She started to do the gagging thing, and soon cast a pellet before the aghast eyes of the young audience. From the girl’s side of the room, a chorus of “gross!!!” rose up. From the boy’s side: “cooool!” It became a brilliant teaching moment, as I excitedly told them how lucky they were to get to see such a thing. I agree with the “cool” side of the room, seeing your photos!

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