The American kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the smallest and most common falcon in North America, as well as the most familiar and widespread, though it has been called the American 'Sparrow Hawk'. Plate 142 from John James Audubon's Birds of America which was printed between 1827 and 1838 with 435 life-size images of North American birds.

Born in Santo Domingo (now Haiti) in 1785, the son of a French sea captain and a French chambermaid, Audubon arrived in America in 1803 and settled near Philadelphia. In 1820, facing bankruptcy as a result of several failed business ventures, Audubon decided to pursue his life-long interest in natural history and initially devoted his time to producing a complete record of American birds. He travelled for the next four years along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in search of species that may not have been included in the work of Alexander Wilson. The result of this endeavour was the famous The Birds of America. This was published in very large format (so-called double- elephant folio) between 1827 and 1838.

Hand-coloured engraving with aquatint and etching, on J. Whatman Turkey Mill, full sheet size: 965 x 655 mm, plate size: 660 x 525 mm; framed & glazed, overall size: 124 x 935 x 30 mm.