It's a Boy! by John

Its been a week and about time we made our announcement! Our family grew by one on Jan 10th around 5:00 PM. He's 7 inches long, weighs 4 ounces, and his name is Orion. He was a little on the chubby side, but that won't last long. Orion is an American Kestrel Falcon. Kestrels are by far one of the most colorful raptors, as you can see by his photo. They are the smallest falcon, and one of the smallest raptors.Despite their size, they are the most common raptor in North America. There's one or two in your neighborhood.

After three months of trying to catch a Red Tail Hawk, Kimberly talked me into trying for a couple of Kestrels the evening of the 10th. She desperately wanted to fly our Red Tail Hawk, Athena, last year, but Athena was too large for an 8-year-old. Female Red Tails have a 4 foot wingspan and weigh 2 pounds.

We saw a couple of female Kestrels, but I drove right past them. There's enough estrogen at our house! We were out on the west side of Farmington headed home when I saw another male Kestrel up on a telephone wire. Kimberly set the trap on the sidewalk of a new neighborhood development. Before she made it back into the van, Orion had already flown at the trap. It is very unusual for any raptor to come so close to people so quickly. Since the trap was setup for a Red Tail Hawk's feet, it took a couple of tries before his small feet were caught. It was a little humurous watching the mice (bait) in the trap run from one side to the other as a little Kestrel jumped from side to side trying to get a meal.

We've had him a week now, and the Vet has given him a clean bill of health. It's always fun to go to the vet with a raptor because so few people have ever seen one so close. When I take a Kestrel, I get hear lots of "He's so cute!" When I take a Red Tail Hawk, little old ladies tell their Toy Poodles and Yorkies to keep quiet because that bird could eat them for dinner!

He's a very calm bird; reminiscent of the laid-back demeanor of a Red Tail Hawk. He doesn't even make a fraction of the noise of other Kestrels that I have cared for. We look forward to having a lot of fun with him. Kimberly even fed him dinner tonight.