Kestrel Nesting Box Project

My husband Scott loves nature and especially enjoys watching birds. To attract the many beautiful birds to our yard, he feeds them and builds houses for them. His passion has now become building all kinds of bird houses. He has built replicas of our camping trailer and church as well as functional bird houses for bluebirds, nuthatches, screech owls, barred owls, wood ducks and bat houses. He builds them out of barn wood, pine and scraps of wood. He has even used hollow logs that he finds in the woods.

Recently, Scott became involved with The Suffield Land Conservancy (SLC). Under the leadership of Art Sikes, the SLC is undertaking a project to create nesting cavities for kestrels and engage volunteers to help with research. Kestrels are cavity nesters but are unable to hollow out cavities for their nests. Art, knowing that Scott made bird houses specific to species, asked him to construct some kestrel nesting boxes. He gave Scott the schematic and he went to work. He has made eight so far. SLC members will make additional boxes. To create public interest, Art arranged a public meeting to talk about kestrels and their proposed project. Tom Sayers gave the presentation on kestrels, their habitat, their decline and the nesting box program.

A kestrel is a small falcon about the size of a morning dove that can be found in grasslands and semi-open forests. Their diet consists of large insects, small snakes, small birds and rodents. They have rust colored feathers with black tips on their backs and tail. Their head and wings are slate blue. The females’ heads are grey and overall are more of a rust color. The male kestrel begins to look for a suitable nesting cavity in March. Once the pair mates, three to seven tan colored speckled eggs are laid in late March into April. Both parents incubate the eggs for 30 days. The young spend 30 days in the nest before fledging. The parents continue to feed the chicks for an additional 12 days.

Kestrels have experienced a decline in population since 1966. One of the possible causes may be nesting cavity scarcities. The SLC’s plan is to find suitable locations around Suffield and build, install, monitor and maintain the boxes. After the ground has thawed, SLC members will install the boxes on 16-foot poles about three feet into the ground. Once installed, they must be monitored and nesting material of invasive species such as starlings and English sparrows must be removed. If other birds have used the box, the kestrels won’t use it. Once the kestrels start using the box, other birds will not enter it. The SLC members will also help with research by getting egg and chick counts for population statistics. Tom Sayers assured the group that this monitoring does not disturb the parents. They will tolerate the human visit and patiently watch from a nearby perch.

Before Scott knew about this project, he and his friend Bob installed a kestrel nesting box in the Barton field behind our house. Although he did not see the chicks, he did see the adult and evidence that chicks had been in the box. Success!