Tweeters,

I spent an hour in a cold and stiff northwesterly breeze viewing the
Eurasian Kestrel north of Bow (fields northwest of where Colony Drive meets
Chuckanut). The bird was actively hunting, both from, a high perch on a
pole and by hovering in the winds. In addition to the plumage pattern (more
subdued head markings) and coloration (paler, upperwing nore contrasty)
differences from American Kestrel already described in previous posts to
Tweeters, I believe there are other apparent, if subtle differences from
the North American species:

First, the Eurasian Kestrel has a more proportionate head shape (less
"blocky"), giving the perched bird a different jizz.

Second, the tail is relatively longer in proportion to wing length
(66.3-66.8 % tail length relative to wing measurement versus 64-67 % in the
American Kestrel) as stated in T. Cade's Falcons of the World (Cornell
Univ. Press. 1982). Combined, these differences lends the perched Eurasian
Kestrel a slightly more elegant outline.

Third, its flight style is a little less buoyant than in an American
Kestrel, perhaps caused by a slightly heavier wing loading (grams per
square inch of wing surface loading is stated as .26 in Eurasian, .24 in
American. Contrast these figure with .30 for Merlin and .52 for the
Peregrine Falcon). Again, these figures are from Cade, 1982. While its
flight style is still "floppy" as is typical of the American Kestrel,
perhaps this ever-so slight increase in wing loading gives the Eurasian
Kestrel a noticeably more stable and direct flight style; Dunne contrasts
this style with the Merlin (Dunne, P., D. Sibley and C. Sutton. Hawks in
Flight, Houghton Mifflin 1988):

"A Merlin is to a kestrel what a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is to to a
scooter. Superficially, the two are similar...when a merlin takes flight,
however, all similarities between the two disappear. The difference between
the two is not just a matter of degree but involves a quantum leap."

Taken together, these differences in structure and flight style add up to a
noticeably different bird, apparent even if viewing conditions are not
optimum (backlit).

I was pleased that the famed Samish Flats were only a three-hour drive from
Yakima; this was my experience on the drive over at mid-day. On the way
home, it was quite a different story. Heading south on I-405 at 5 pm, I
heard a traffic alert on the Seattle "Classic" station that I-5 was "grim"
heading south into Seattle, but I-405 was described as merely "thick south
of Hwy 520 to Coal Valley Parkway." I was relieved I was on the "right"
interstate. I soon found out what "thick" meant in the local parlance as I
crawled for an hour relieved only by a snippet of the hauntingly beautiful
bars of Brahms Symphony # 3, being advertised for the upcoming Seattle
Symphony, an event almost worth the effort to attend for an eastern
Washington resident. I hummed these sublime notes for much of this time in
gridlock. I wondered what I-5 was like if conditions were really like.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA

steppie at wolfenet.com