LC
American Kestrel Falco sparverius



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Perrins, C.M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency low
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 78,000,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 52,700,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown poor estimated 2009
Population trend stable - estimated -
Generation length 5.7 years - - -

Trend justification: This species has had stable population trends over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007). Note, however, that these surveys cover less than 50% of the species's range in North America.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Anguilla (to UK) extant native
Antigua and Barbuda extant native
Argentina extant native
Aruba (to Netherlands) extant native
Bahamas extant native
Barbados extant native
Belize extant native yes
Bermuda (to UK) extant native
Bolivia extant native
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) extant native
Brazil extant native
Canada extant native yes yes
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native
Chile extant native
Colombia extant native
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native
Denmark extant vagrant
Dominica extant native
Dominican Republic extant native
Ecuador extant native
El Salvador extant native
Estonia extant vagrant
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) extant native
French Guiana extant native
Grenada extant native yes
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native
Guatemala extant native
Guyana extant native
Haiti extant native
Honduras extant native
Jamaica extant native yes
Malta extant vagrant
Martinique (to France) extant native
Mexico extant native
Montserrat (to UK) extant native
Nicaragua extant native
Panama extant native
Paraguay extant native
Peru extant native
Portugal extant vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands) extant native
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands extant native
St Barthelemy (to France) extant native
St Kitts and Nevis extant native
St Lucia extant native
St Martin (to France) extant native
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) extant native yes yes
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native
Trinidad and Tobago extant native
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native
United Kingdom extant vagrant
United States Minor Outlying Islands (to USA) extant native
Uruguay extant native yes
USA extant native yes
Venezuela extant native
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Pastureland suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Pastureland suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Urban Areas suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Urban Areas suitable non-breeding
Desert Hot suitable breeding
Desert Hot suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland suitable breeding
Grassland Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude suitable breeding
Grassland Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude suitable non-breeding
Grassland Temperate suitable breeding
Grassland Temperate suitable non-breeding
Savanna Dry suitable non-breeding
Savanna Dry suitable breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Shrubland Temperate suitable breeding
Shrubland Temperate suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable non-breeding
Altitude 0 - 4300 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: American Kestrel Falco sparverius. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/american-kestrel-falco-sparverius on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.