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Nearby · Union Co.
BirdsIn Union County, Ohio

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758

American Kestrel in all of Ohio
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
(c) SINEAD, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by SINEAD · CC BY-NC 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · iNaturalist (opens in a new tab)
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Falconiformes
Family
Falconidae
Genus
Falco
Near Union County

Range

Where it is recorded

Season shown in 1 of Ohio's 88 counties. Its mapped range covers 88. Explore Ohio

  • No result yet (0)
  • Within its mapped range (32)
  • Recorded, too few records for a result (50)
  • Recorded, season not shown (5)
  • Season shown (1)
Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files, 1:500,000. Range: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Species Range Maps CONUS_2001 (2018). Show as a table
Counties as a table
American Kestrel by Ohio county: records and mapped range
CountyRecordsIn mapped range
Adams CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Allen CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Ashland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Ashtabula CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Athens CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Auglaize CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Belmont CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Brown CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Butler CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Carroll CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Champaign CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Clark CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Clermont CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Clinton CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Columbiana CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Coshocton CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Crawford CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Cuyahoga County45 · Recorded, season not shownYes: year-round
Darke CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Defiance CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Delaware CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Erie CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Fairfield CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Fayette CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Franklin CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Fulton CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Gallia CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Geauga CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Greene CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Guernsey CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Hamilton County72 · Recorded, season not shownYes: year-round
Hancock CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Hardin CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Harrison CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Henry CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round, summer
Highland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Hocking CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Holmes CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Huron CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Jackson CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Jefferson CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Knox CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Lake County26 · Recorded, season not shownYes: year-round
Lawrence CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Licking CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Logan CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Lorain CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Lucas CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Madison CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Mahoning CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Marion CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Medina CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Meigs CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Mercer CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Miami CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Monroe CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Montgomery CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Morgan CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Morrow CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Muskingum CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Noble CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Ottawa County25 · Recorded, season not shownYes: year-round, summer
Paulding CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Perry CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Pickaway CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Pike CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Portage CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Preble CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Putnam CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Richland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Ross CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Sandusky CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Scioto CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Seneca CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Shelby CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Stark CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Summit County171 · Season shownYes: year-round
Trumbull CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Tuscarawas CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Union CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Van Wert CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Vinton CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Warren CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round
Washington CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round
Wayne County25 · Recorded, season not shownYes: year-round
Williams CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round, summer
Wood CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: year-round, summer
Wyandot CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: year-round

Season

When it is recorded

In Union County

Not enough evidence

Not enough records in Union County yet to show a season. A season needs at least 20 records from 5 different years. Missing records do not mean it is absent.

In Ohio

Recorded all year

Recorded through most of the year, so there is no single season to show. Based on 789 records in 10 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, above the minimum of 20 records from 5 different years.
Show over the bars
Recording in Ohio · records of all species each week, 1,691,199 in all

Records per week from 789 records in 10 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025. Shows when people recorded it, not a season or how common it is.

Show as a table
Records of American Kestrel in Ohio each week, and records of all species
WeekRecords of American KestrelYears recordedRecords of all species
Jan 4–1041106,211
Jan 11–172585,146
Jan 18–243284,645
Jan 25–3126104,698
Feb 1–72676,023
Feb 8–142695,888
Feb 15–212695,436
Feb 22–2825106,846
Mar 1–72388,321
Mar 8–1419810,384
Mar 15–2120712,620
Mar 22–2813713,949
Mar 29 – Apr 423919,661
Apr 5–1118826,860
Apr 12–1822639,925
Apr 19–2516741,623
Apr 26 – May 213756,391
May 3–910752,952
May 10–166553,785
May 17–233357,698
May 24–307654,651
May 31 – Jun 65553,099
Jun 7–137753,700
Jun 14–2015656,625
Jun 21–2711755,361
Jun 28 – Jul 47558,477
Jul 5–115361,336
Jul 12–185564,722
Jul 19–259469,753
Jul 26 – Aug 111759,416
Aug 2–88559,712
Aug 9–1510655,994
Aug 16–227554,328
Aug 23–294251,772
Aug 30 – Sep 510757,167
Sep 6–128659,075
Sep 13–193354,543
Sep 20–265245,860
Sep 27 – Oct 310443,180
Oct 4–105437,841
Oct 11–173130,824
Oct 18–244421,156
Oct 25–314419,021
Nov 1–716614,172
Nov 8–146512,621
Nov 15–211487,965
Nov 22–283098,136
Nov 29 – Dec 51576,083
Dec 6–123186,004
Dec 13–193285,423
Dec 20–2631105,661
Dec 27 – Jan 23898,459

What these results show

These results show when people recorded a species, not when or where it occurs. Missing weeks and low counts do not mean absence or scarcity, and counts are not abundance. Contributed records reflect where, when and what people chose to observe.

Identification

How to identify it

Telling it apart

From what Ohio’s records show. Only what the records support is shown.

Often confused with

  • Merlin Falco columbarius230 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus166 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • Cooper's Hawk Astur cooperii110 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis89 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus76 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant

From iNaturalist’s similar-species counts, refreshed monthly: confusions in Ohio first, then worldwide. Only species with an Ohio result are listed.

When each is reported

  • All recordsNo season shown · 789 records
  • Reported as femaleUsually late November to early August, middle week early February · 190 records

Not every photo is marked with a sex or a sign, so these show when people reported each, not when it happens.

Land cover where it is recorded

Land coverIts recordsAll Ohio records
Developed66%49%
Farmland25%11%
Wetland5%5%
Barren2%0.6%
Open water2%3%
Forest1%31%

From 267 records placed within 100 m, beside all Ohio records placed the same way. People record where they go, so this shows where records come from, not where the species lives. Land cover: USGS Annual NLCD, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Finer identifications

Some Ohio records of this species were identified to a subspecies:

  • Falco sparverius sparveriusDesert Sparrow Hawksubspecies

Every one of these records counts toward the American Kestrel's season above.

Why some records go further than species

Many species vary from place to place. Groups of a species that look or sound a little different, and live in different areas, can be named as subspecies. Observers and experts only identify a record that far when it shows enough detail to tell them apart. Records without that detail count at the species level.

Names: Catalogue of Life.

Sources

Where these results come from

  • Records from iNaturalist research-grade observations and expert-identified GBIF datasets, CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC. Sources
  • Seasons use the published method and its evidence thresholds. Methods
  • See it on iNaturalist (opens in a new tab)OpenPhenology is independent and not affiliated with iNaturalist.

Records behind the Ohio result

789 records from 2 datasets.

To cite: the GBIF download doi:10.15468/dl.y2jkt8 (opens in a new tab).

A spreadsheet (CSV) with a link to each record, on iNaturalist or GBIF. Records whose location was hidden by the observer or the source are counted but not linked.