What bird did I see??

[Coach1310]

Not a bird watcher, but saw a neat bird on the way to work today. It was about the size and shape of a robin. A little slimmer and the tail feathers were longer than a robin. It was light blue with some orange/brown striping. The belly was a brownish orange color. The colors reminded me of a blue bird, but it wasn't a blue bird. It was about 15 miles NE of St. Cloud, MN if that helps any!!! Thanks

[Jex]

Maybe a Kestrel/Sparrow Hawk. About robin sized with blue and orange. Pretty common to see them perched on wires or hovering over the side of the road looking for food.

[Coach1310]

Thanks!!! That is exactly the bird I saw,sitting on a fence post just like that. How common are these??? I guess I don't remember seeing them before!!

[Dotch]

First, kudos to jex on the great call. I puzzled and puzzled till my puzzler was sore about that one. When I saw the pic jex posted, I thought to myself, well duh! Apparently there is fair amount of variation in color as the males seen around here are more of blue-gray, and not as bright as the one in the picture. Kestrels or sparrow hawks are relatively common in the state. Seen often on electrical wires, power poles and fencelines especially as they migrate through.

[buzzsaw]

I don't think there are alot around and if there are, they may be a bit secretive.

[Jex]

I think that they are fairly common around here. I saw at least three on a drive between Minnetonka and the St Cloud area last week. I often see them hovering around the runways and taxiways at the MSP airport. I have seen them in the Twin City area throughout the spring-fall months and occasionally in the winter.

[Dotch]

When the winters are open and mild we see kestrels commonly across southern MN and they seem to push south when the weather gets ugly. Suspect they nest near our farmstead during the summer months as there is plenty of variety for them to feed on and terrain they seem to like. Looks like the guy in buzz's photo forgot to use his napkin!