Many records were set in our 2021 Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring program that included 208 nest boxes monitored by 65 volunteers and three banders. Roughly 232 young birds fledged, 160 young were banded, and 41 adults were captured.
The COVID-19 virus continued in 2021, but with the project taking place outdoors, practicing social-distancing, and working in family units, 2021 turned out to be a very good year for the nest box program.
We started with 25 new volunteers. Melissa Kesling demonstrated her dedication when she tried to prepare her box for the season and found the snow was too deep to reach the box. She went home for her snowshoes and got the job done!
The Peregrine Fund’s American Kestrel Partnership (AKP) that has many organizations reporting their data to the AKP. Of all those programs in North America, our nest box program has the second highest number of boxes (208)! That’s just behind Sacajawea Audubon Society in Montana with 215 nest boxes. In terms of number of volunteers who monitor these boxes, our trail is number one with 65 monitors.
Amber Eschenbauch from Central Wisconsin Kestrel Partnership bands a female kestrel during one of our banding sessions this June. Photo by Kaitlin Svabek / Madison Audubon
The good news is that we handled over 200 birds for the first time. Of the nine adult females re-captured, two were banded by others. Our friends at Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station banded a chick last year near the Sheboygan Marsh that nested 110 miles to the southwest in a box in Iowa County. The second female nested in the same area but was first banded 114 miles to the northwest in Jackson County. Two females have been captured three times. One is at least three years old and the other is at least 4 years old. I knew they were banded other years. The large number of birds processed was made possible by having a third bander, Kurt Reed, in addition to Janet and Amber Eschenbauch.
With Kurt’s help we divided the banding area into three study areas. One being Columbia County where we have banded for five years. The east area being Dodge and Jefferson Counties. The southwest area is near the corners of Dane, Iowa, and Lafayette Counties.
This illustration from National Geographic shows the plumage differences between male and female American Kestrels.
A common question asked while banding is “Do you band more male or female chicks?” We always reply by saying that it evens out at the end of the year. Well, this year we banded eighty male and eighty female chicks.
We had our earliest egg laying date of March 30 and latest egg laying date of June 25. This year there were three nests that failed, making it the lowest number of failures in our program’s history. In one box, a starling constructed a nest on top of kestrel eggs; in the second box we believe that poison may have killed the birds; and in the third box a predator, probably a raccoon, took the chicks. There were five boxes where no eggs hatched, probably due to the very cold spring.
Typical kestrel clutch size is five. Photo by Brenna Marsicek / Madison Audubon
The Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow usage was about the same as other years. We also had a Wood Duck use a nest box in the Fitchburg area.
Notes of interest while monitoring and banding: we saw a pair of fox snakes mating near Jim and Marci Hess’s house. A volunteer found the remains of a twelve-inch garter snake that the chicks were eating. Another person also found a silver dollar-sized painted turtle inside of a nest box.
Madison Audubon goes above and beyond the requirements of the American Kestrel Partnership. We install plastic SOLO cups into the box opening to discourage starlings, we band chicks and adult birds, and we supply feather and toenail samples for future research. We are a valued resource for many individuals that want to learn more about Kestrels. This year, I talked with Kestrel enthusiasts from Appleton, Beloit, Boyceville, and New Glarus, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and Ogden, Utah.
Caleb Jansen and his dad, Dan, pose with their newly installed kestrel nest box. Photo provided by Dan Jansen
We help Boy Scouts earn their Eagle Scout rank. Last month, Caleb Jansen from Deforest earned his highest rank after completing a Kestrel project. Caleb coordinated other scouts that built 10 nest boxes, installed four boxes, and monitored five during the season. Caleb and Troop 155 did a wonderful job and were very pleased to have four of the five boxes they monitored being used by kestrels.
A very big thank you goes out to all the volunteers that helped with the program. This project takes time, personal commitment, and dedication.
Travel time for all of our Kestrel volunteers is an important part of their overall commitment. Banders Janet and Amber Eschenbauch with the Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research group travel two hours to Goose Pond, while Kurt Reed lives in Fort Atkinson, and drives an hour and a half to get to the southwest study area. Thanks to the many donors that support the project.
Written by Brand Smith, Madison Audubon’s volunteer Kestrel Nest Box coordinator
Cover photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
