American Kestrel
Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 (0, 2)
Photo © Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
STATUS
North, Central and South America. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
This first for Britain was of an adult male in late May 1976 on Fair Isle followed closely by an adult female some 900 miles south and seventeen days later on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Still the only two occurrences.
BBRC RECORDS
1). 1976 Fair Isle North Reeva and Malcolm's Head/Setter area, adult male, 25th to 27th May, F. s. sparverius.
(M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 71: 496; A. M. Taylor, British Birds 74: 199-203; BOURC (1978), Ibis 120: 409; BOURC (1991), Ibis 133: 438).
2). 1976 Cornwall Bearah Tor, Bodmin Moor, adult female, 13th to 28th June.
(M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 71: 496; M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 72: 517, corr.; B. K. Mellow & P. A. Maker, British Birds 74: 227; BOURC (1978), Ibis 120: 409).
