The American Kestrel cam breeding season might seem to go by in the blink of an eye, but their time in the nest box is an action-packed frenzy of feathered fun! Watch the top moments from 2021, when a pair of North America's smallest falcons worked around the clock to raise five fledglings in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin.
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A new American Kestrel breeding pair moved
into the nest box in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin,
this spring and began tending to their eggs. The pair often met up on a branch outside
the nest box, where the male delivered
meals to his mate.
By mid-April, the female had finished
laying a clutch of five speckled eggs. Most of the incubation duties fell
to the female, but her mate helped
out whenever she needed a break.
After 34 days, the kestrels welcomed their
first hatchling on the morning of May 12. By the end of the day, four of the five chicks hatched,
and the female arrived to offer the first nibbles of vole. Within 48 hours, the youngest chick hatched,
and the kestrels had five hungry mouths to feed.
During the first week and a half, the female kept her brood
warm and cozy while her mate was out hunting for food.
The busy parents brought food
from dawn until dusk to satisfy
their nestlings' voracious appetites. Insects, small rodents, and birds
made up most of the chicks' diet
throughout the breeding season. Mealtime often turned into a frenzy,
with chicks competing for attention
and wrestling over bites of food.
The nestlings grew rapidly, and
their juvenile feathers began
to surface at three weeks old. These new feathers revealed which nestlings were males (gray wings
and rusty backs) and which were females (barred wings and backs).
At four weeks old, the chicks prepped
for fledging by exercising their flight
muscles with feverish wing flapping.
The first two kestrel chicks fledged from the
box on June 11, exactly 30 days after hatching. The next day, the other three chicks joined their
siblings in the rolling grasslands outside the nest box.
One last check of the nest box confirmed
that the nestling period was over. American Kestrels continue to feed and spend time with their
fledglings for several weeks as they learn to fly and hunt. When they're finally ready, the young falcons will disperse
in search of territories of their own. Good luck out there!
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The American Kestrel cam is a collaboration between the Cornell Lab or Ornithology and the Raptor Resource Project.
This American Kestrel paid is nesting in a gravel-bottomed nest on private property near Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. The nest box is located on the side of a traditional limestone-footed barn, overlooking a rolling grassland that slopes away into folded hills and forests. Our partners at the Raptor Resource Project have watched kestrels breed at this site for over 25 years, and the wonderful combination of grassland, forest, and water that surrounds the property is an excellent example of the habitat that kestrels need to survive and thrive. Watch cam.
The young birds begin to hatch out of their eggs after about a month of incubation. Over the following 3-4 weeks, the nestlings will transform from downy bobbleheads to sleek, dull versions of their parents on a diverse diet of invertebrates, small mammals, and birds (watch this highlight of the female feeding the young). After fledging, the young will continue to be cared for by their parents, remaining near the nest as they learn to hunt and master flight.
Don't miss the outside view! A second camera has been installed to give views of the nest box opening from the outside so viewers can observe the kestrels' comings and goings, as well as the nestlings once they begin peering outside. You can view both cameras at https://allaboutbirds.org/kestrels
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