he American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is a small falcon.
This bird was (and sometimes still is) colloquially known in North America as the "Sparrow Hawk".
This name is misleading because it implies a connection with the Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, which is unrelated; the latter is an accipiter rather than a falcon.
Though both are diurnal raptors, they are only distantly related.
source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
