13 June 2007 - American Kestrel Update - Tuttl
E-mail from Dick Tuttle, Some photos by Dick Phillips and
some from Frank Germann by
Going Here
KestrelPics607
Hello Everyone,
Dick Phillips and I monitored seven or our 18 American Kestrel roadside nest boxes and were pleasantly surprised to find our sixteenth active nest. A male falcon had been seen at the site since May 2 and he finally attracted a mate. Today, a female kestrel flushed as we prepared the ladder for the climb up the electric pole. The nest chamber sheltered three chocolate speckled eggs with one much lighter than the other two, indicating a completed clutch.
For now, only two of the sixteen nests have eggs. Of 14 nests with young, we have attached leg bands to ten families and four boxes hold nestlings younger than 13 days, too small to be sexed with certainty. Females show brown wing feathers, and males have slate-colored wings.
Five of the families are old enough to fledge and will be fed by parents for 12 -14 days once they leave the nest. Sometimes, fledglings return to the shelter of their natal site for up to 12 days according to The Birds of North America, Species Profile No. 602, by John A. Smallwood and David M. Bird. We found no starling eggs in two kestrel-free nest boxes since European Starlings do not lay eggs after the first week in June.
We are noticing more poles with scratches left behind by raccoons trying to climb to the nest boxes. June is the time when masked mothers lead their adolescent gangs on nightly food-gathering adventures. Too bad for them that 20 inches of aluminum flashing stops their ascents just short of our kestrel families. Unfortunately, the beginnings of a drought are making it harder for raccoons to find food, which makes them desperate and bold.
Next week, we will begin checking nest boxes that have launched their tenants. We will check for nestling remains and possible second nesting attempts. Hopefully, all stories will have happy endings, but today, one family of five had several smaller members that appeared stressed, possibly from the heat.
For now, we are amazed that North America's smallest falcon has accepted sixteen of eighteen nest boxes. An occupancy rate of 87% is something to be excited about.
Raptor on, Dick Tuttle
some from Frank Germann by
Going Here
KestrelPics607
Hello Everyone,
Dick Phillips and I monitored seven or our 18 American Kestrel roadside nest boxes and were pleasantly surprised to find our sixteenth active nest. A male falcon had been seen at the site since May 2 and he finally attracted a mate. Today, a female kestrel flushed as we prepared the ladder for the climb up the electric pole. The nest chamber sheltered three chocolate speckled eggs with one much lighter than the other two, indicating a completed clutch.
For now, only two of the sixteen nests have eggs. Of 14 nests with young, we have attached leg bands to ten families and four boxes hold nestlings younger than 13 days, too small to be sexed with certainty. Females show brown wing feathers, and males have slate-colored wings.
Five of the families are old enough to fledge and will be fed by parents for 12 -14 days once they leave the nest. Sometimes, fledglings return to the shelter of their natal site for up to 12 days according to The Birds of North America, Species Profile No. 602, by John A. Smallwood and David M. Bird. We found no starling eggs in two kestrel-free nest boxes since European Starlings do not lay eggs after the first week in June.
We are noticing more poles with scratches left behind by raccoons trying to climb to the nest boxes. June is the time when masked mothers lead their adolescent gangs on nightly food-gathering adventures. Too bad for them that 20 inches of aluminum flashing stops their ascents just short of our kestrel families. Unfortunately, the beginnings of a drought are making it harder for raccoons to find food, which makes them desperate and bold.
Next week, we will begin checking nest boxes that have launched their tenants. We will check for nestling remains and possible second nesting attempts. Hopefully, all stories will have happy endings, but today, one family of five had several smaller members that appeared stressed, possibly from the heat.
For now, we are amazed that North America's smallest falcon has accepted sixteen of eighteen nest boxes. An occupancy rate of 87% is something to be excited about.
Raptor on, Dick Tuttle
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