Female American Kestrel

North America's smallest falcon is the American Kestrel. Males are orange and slate blue; females are brown and stripey. This female is an education bird at a raptor rehabilitation facility. She is imprinted and suffers from metabolic bone disease because she was kept illegally as a pet and fed on cat food. She was lucky to survive on that diet without permanent physical disability. Now she lives with an imprinted male kestrel. They get along very well.