We are putting Kestrel boxes up throughout southern Berkshire County and bordering counties in New York in collaboration with organic farmers, local non-profits, community members and town and state governments to bolster Kestrel populations in our region.
And Kestrels need our help. Though once common in New England, sadly, these spectacular little falcons have experienced steep declines.
As cavity-nesters, Kestrels rely on suitable structures, like large dead trees with cavities, to house their chicks. Without nest sites, Kestrels are excluded from otherwise excellent habitats.
Kestrels love open spaces including old fields, farms and pastureland with lots of exposed perches--like telephone wires, fence posts and dead trees.
We are continually looking for new partners to host Kestrel boxes at sites with adequate open habitat (>30 acres) in their immediate area. Though hosting a box is cost-free, BBO depends on generous donations to carry out their conservation projects.
We install the boxes, monitor them 4 times a year, clean and maintain them. Before the chicks fledge we band them and are happy to bring people out for that.
The more boxes we have up in our region, the more monitoring data we will be able to collect to help us understand why these incredible birds are declining. Not only that, but more nesting structures in suitable habitat will help Kestrels rebound—that is our ultimate goal.
To help inform Kestrel conservation more broadly, we participate in the American Kestrel Nest Box Project—sharing our data with scientists from The Peregrine Fund where it contributes to continent-wide population analyses.
