Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Last week, Madison Audubon staff and Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring volunteers collaborated with the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center, Sauk County Humane Society, and a couple conscientious citizens in an effort to reunite some displaced American Kestrel nestlings with their parents.
Photo by Kaitlin Svabek/Madison Audubon
Brand Smith, former MAS President, super volunteer, wonderful birder, and all-round nice guy, has led Madison Audubon's kestrel nest box monitoring program for several years. Many volunteers in turn have helped build and install the boxes and monitor them throughout the season. Madison Audubon has long documented the outstanding success of these nest boxes in helping kestrels produce healthy youngsters. In and of itself, that's invaluable because kestrels are on the sad list of bird species which are declining.
Photo by Jim Stewart
North America’s smallest falcon, the American kestrel, is getting a leg-up in south-central Wisconsin. Four orphaned kestrel chicks were discovered and brought in for rehabilitation, and placed into foster kestrel nests that allowed the chicks to be raised by wild mothers with nestlings their own age. This effort was done in partnership between Madison Audubon, Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research program, and Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center.
Madison Audubon photo
