Falcon or hawk?

sorry the pic is so bad. At first i thought it was a hawk but the more i look , im starting to lean toward a falcon. What do yall think?

American Kestral

Ditto to American Kestrel

Resin

Definitely a falcon and it looks like falco sparverius (American Kestrel).

Sorry but another bird forum has said this is a Merlin. What are your(s) thought on this possibly?

it's not a Merlin, not even close

They lighten the pic.and said . Kestrel would not have solid dark grey back and wing and would have darker more distint moustache marks. And also not that much spotting on sides. There was much debate about this one but after lighten the pic all agreed that it was a Merlin, Maybe the Taiga species or family.

Old post, but agreed that this was a Merlin. Kestrels have two dark mustachial markings (as opposed to this bird's single marking) and are not all dark above (as this bird was).

Tried the lightening the pic trick, and have to agree now with Merlin.

Resin

It also looks like the hobby,yes i know the hobby is European but it looks like one