Kestrels
A male kestrel, right, looks down on a female from their perch atop a nesting box.
Just the word “falcon” evokes mental images of sleek birds flashing through the air at speeds almost too fast to follow. We have several varieties of falcons that frequent our property: prairie falcons are commonly observed in the winter months while peregrine falcons are rare but always exciting visitors. The smallest members of the falcon family in North America, kestrels, are annual residents during nesting time. The male usually arrives in early June and searches out a few nesting options to show the female when she shows up a couple weeks later. She has the final word and once she accepts one of his choices they waste no time in mating and laying eggs in the chosen location.
Kestrels don’t build nests of their own. They often find cavities in rocks or trees that they claim as temporary quarters but they are quick to accept man-made nesting boxes erected for their use.
Kestrels mating in the tree that houses their nesting box.
We have watched year after year as the birds select one of the two boxes we placed in our yard many years ago. They typically have three young and quite often manage to fledge all three in early August. Once the youngsters are comfortable flying from tree to tree the whole bunch moves on, disappearing until the return of a male again next June.
Previously known as sparrow hawks, kestrels are raptors that will hunt birds smaller than themselves but around here they seem to be content with grasshoppers most of the time, occasionally supplementing their diet with sagebrush lizards or small rodents.
A female kestrel guards her box from a northern flicker eyeing it for himself.
Kestrel boxes are also the right size for a few species of owls and northern flickers. We rarely see the former but the largish woodpeckers often try to claim the boxes before the kestrels arrive, only to be chased out and forced to find another spot to call home.
Two of the three chicks in the nest peek their heads up in an attempt to see a parent returning with food.
A fledgling kestrel exercises his new wings before making a test flight.
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