Back-To-Back American Kestrels – Male And Female With Prey

American Kestrels are known to be maddeningly elusive for photographers. Get within a hundred feet of them and they typically vamoose. And they like high wire perches which aren’t conducive to good photographs. So this morning I’m reminding myself that if you persevere you can occasionally get lucky with them and I’ll use this example from a year ago in Montana’s Centennial Valley. I got relatively close to two kestrels, a male and a female, both with prey, within four minutes.

Miracles do happen.

 

american kestrel 5374 ron dudley

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

First I approached this male on a fence post as it was eating what I believe to be a grasshopper. As you can see he was wary of me at first but he soon settled down and calmly finished off his meal. At that point I expected him to fly off but he actually spent some time cleaning his bill on the post before he did so. I like the look we get at the prey, the fanned tail, the feathers ruffled by the breeze and the background colors. And those big black eyes…

 

 

american kestrel 5410b ron dudley

1/1600, f/9, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Then, four minutes later, I found this female a little further down the road. She was feeding on a vole in her right foot but looked back occasionally to check me out. This image illustrates one of the prices we pay for shooting in harsh light – the photo was taken at 11:11 AM and there’s some glare on her back feathers that I’m not happy about but as you can see I still kept the image. After all, it’s a kestrel!

American Kestrels tend to be “stickier” when they have prey and I’m confident that’s at least part of the reason these two let me approach them. I often go months without getting close to a kestrel so photographing two of them within four minutes was a stand-out event for me.

Good birds!

Ron

32 Comments

  1. Your last comment “good birds” made me giggle.

  2. As a long-time Kestrel chaser, I thoroughly appreciate the quality of these images! Your background really enhances their plumage and the eye contact you get is wonderful!

    Our resident Kestrel population is being enhanced with migratory birds, some of which will continue to South and Central America and many which will remain here all winter.

    Beautiful birds!

  3. Dear Rocky–peeled or poached, voles probably taste like chicken,and if you ate as much chicken as we do…..

  4. Charlotte Norton

    Sensational shots Ron!

    Charlotte

  5. Wonderful shots Ron, brings back memories!

  6. The kestrel can have ALL of my voles.
    The kestrels are beautiful, even if the voles and grasshoppers would argue.

  7. Wonderful even in harsh light. Ferocious for sure. In rehab we call them the little bird that thinks it’s an eagle.

    • They do have an attitude, April. I once cared for one that had free run of its “owner’s” house and it constantly attacked bare toes. You simply could not go barefoot.

  8. Wonderful close ups of their faces. For such small birds they have so much coloring. Great job Ron!

  9. Humming bird lover

    Hi! Love the photo’s of these beautiful birds! Great shooting! Have a great day.

  10. These are beautiful shots of one of my very favorite birds, despite the glare on the back of the female. I saw my first one in a very long time yesterday when we were driving out to Hueco Tanks. And realized that I miss seeing them regularly – either in person or on your blog. I’m glad these two let you photograph them. Seeing Kestrels always makes my day.

  11. These are such gorgeous little guys … I would love to find and snap one some day!!!!!!! Great, great work, as always!!!!

  12. Lovely pictures of a beautiful bird.

  13. Beautiful, Ron, even if you did get the glare on her hack. Love the colors and showing what they are doing. Small, but ferocious for sure. Glad you were able to capture them. 🙂

  14. You lucky duck! One of my favorite birds!

  15. Thanks for photos of my favorite raptor.
    The female is wonderful. I think she is watching you to make sure you don’t take her vole.

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