Birding Q & A
Do you have a birding question? Send us an email! —we'll post the answer here!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
posted by Laura Guerard | 11:07 AM
Q: When someone says "grasshopper hawk" are they talking about American Kestrel?
A: Yes, American Kestrel has a few slang names including "grasshopper hawk" because their diet of insects includes the favored grasshoppers. Some also say that their high-pitched buzzing song resembles the stridulation (the noise grasshoppers and crickets make when they rub their legs together) of grasshoppers.
The American Kestrel may also be referred to as a"sparrow hawk" because, in the past, it was thought that kestrels primarily preyed upon sparrows before research indicated otherwise.
American Kestrel eating a cricket "on the wing".
A: Yes, American Kestrel has a few slang names including "grasshopper hawk" because their diet of insects includes the favored grasshoppers. Some also say that their high-pitched buzzing song resembles the stridulation (the noise grasshoppers and crickets make when they rub their legs together) of grasshoppers.
The American Kestrel may also be referred to as a"sparrow hawk" because, in the past, it was thought that kestrels primarily preyed upon sparrows before research indicated otherwise.
American Kestrel eating a cricket "on the wing".
<< Home