AMERICAN KESTRELS ~ 2015

Catbird · **Posted:** Fri May 01, 2015 7:49 pm

Star Ranch

Nebraska

Salt Lake City

Catbird · **Posted:** Mon May 04, 2015 7:02 am

Hawk Mountain - 5 eggs.

LeicaEagles · **Joined:** Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:40 pm **Posts:** 2913

I did not see a reference to this camera so I thought I would mention that http://www.hawkmountain.org has an active live feed from their nest box with several eyasses under Mrs. K

here is,hopefully, the direct link for the hawk mountain berks county,pa. camera:

http://www.hawkmountain.org/raptorpedia ... px?id=5405

kittenface · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2015 11:56 am

I wonder whats up with this the egg has been out by its self since I turned on the cam.

Catbird · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2015 5:22 pm

Pawnee

KF - Yes it was strange to see that egg out by itself this morning! I was watching a bit 'cause I thought there might a hatch today.

It was even stranger to see the male leave the rest of the eggs to go and turn that lonesome egg all around.

And then later this afternoon when I checked the nest again, the egg had disappeared leaving only 4 eggs in the nest.

Nebraska

Things are looking better at this nest, with all the chicks getting bigger every day.

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 63313

Nebraska

Catbird · **Posted:** Sun May 10, 2015 3:18 pm

Pawnee - First hatch in process right now!

And both parents want to be there at the same time!

It looks like the female won.

kittenface · **Posted:** Sun May 10, 2015 9:34 pm

Well I didn't get to see baby, but I did catch both parents at Pawnee the one at top had a critter eating it. Long whitish tail maybe mouse :girlcrazy:

Catbird · **Posted:** Mon May 11, 2015 7:49 pm

Pawnee - 3 chicks now!

:egglaugh:

It took a while to see the chicks. It seems as though once the male gets on the eggs/chicks, he doesn't want to leave. The female tries to get him off, going so far as to sit on him, but he just doesn't give up.

Nebraska

All is well here, and the chicks are really growing up fast.

Starr Ranch

I don't know what happened here, but the nest box is empty now. No chicks and no parents are in sight.

Catbird · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2015 5:47 pm

Pawnee - 4 chicks!

Boise - 4 chicks hatched today, but I couldn't get a shot with all of them.

Priscilla · **Posted:** Wed May 13, 2015 3:11 pm

Catbird wrote:

Boise - 4 chicks hatched today, but I couldn't get a shot with all of them.

from fb

A wet and brand-new fourth chick just appeared! That leaves only one egg remaining!

We have just confirmed that there are five hatchlings present in the nest! The last egg hatched sometime during the night. This means that all hatchlings are quite close in age this year!

Catbird · **Posted:** Wed May 13, 2015 4:04 pm

Thanks for the news and the links, Priscilla. The pictures on Facebook were awesome!

Catbird · **Posted:** Thu May 14, 2015 2:01 pm

Salt Lake City - At least 2 hatches today.

I only caught sight of one chick, but there are definitely 2 broken shells.

Catbird · **Posted:** Sat May 16, 2015 5:10 pm

Salt Lake City - According to the site, all 5 eggs hatched on 5/14.

From yesterday:

From today:

Nebraska

kittenface · **Posted:** Sat May 16, 2015 10:59 pm

Catbird wrote:

Starr Ranch

I don't know what happened here, but the nest box is empty now. No chicks and no parents are in sight.[/color][/b]

Found this at the site
05/11/15 Update. I have been in contact with the CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Investigations Lab and will be sending the Kestrel chick to them that I was able to retrieve from the box yesterday. Maybe we will learn what might have caused the entire clutch’s rapid and highly unusual demise. From what I can tell, all the chicks appeared fine around 6AM on May 8th. So I am trying to save as much video as I can from that point through when the last chick had clearly expired. Maybe there’s something that will jump out at me when I can review it. For example, a particular incident or prey delivery might shed some light on what happened. In the meantime, if any of you saw/recorded some specific activity that looked odd to you or perhaps when you noticed any of the chicks first exhibiting signs of distress, please email me what you know, including date and time. I’m trying to accumulate as much info as possible to hopefully turn this difficult situation into something we can learn from and perhaps prevent from happening again. Thanks. Pete

05/09/15 In light of what has occurred rather rapidly, i.e. the demise of 3 of the 4 chicks, I’d like to say a few things.
– I don’t think a rush to judgement suggesting that this is the result of West Nile virus is warranted, although possible.
– It has been unseasonably cold and rainy for the last 3-4 days possibly making hunting difficult for the adults when the chicks really need food.
– Apparently the adults have been bringing in lizards and large insects, but not a lot of mice or other prey of large size/biomass. As these chicks grow they need a lot of food and maybe the lizards and insects weren’t enough.
– Most important – this kind of thing HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. Lots of reproduction takes place every year and, when ALL conditions aren’t right, nests fail. I suspect this is why birds and other wildlife produce a lot of young every year. They are at the mercy of the current condition of their habitat and food source when they breed annually. In years when every thing is good, lots of young make it. When not, they don’t. But these species breed every year and try to produce way more young than it would take to replace them when the die. Think about it – A pair of Kestrels (or insert most any other wildlife species), during their lifetime, just need to produce a male and a female to take their place when they die to keep their species viable. But they make this attempt every year, trying to raise in any given year way more than it would take to accomplish this. So most don’t make it as a matter of course, whether in the nest or after fledging. It’s just the way it works. If there are factors that indicate that a species or population is failing every year due to things like habitat loss, pesticides, etc. then that’s on us and it’s what concerns me the most. But until I see evidence of this – and I look for it all the time – chicks dying (not making it) is part of a natural cycle given how prolific these birds are over the course of their life. However, I think our severe drought is a factor affecting prey availability and there may be other reasons. And climate change is definitely influencing things. Some of these are our doing and we can fix them. If that’s the case we need to start doing so – now. Pete

Catbird · **Posted:** Sun May 17, 2015 6:45 am

KF - Thanks for finding and posting the news about the disappearance of the chicks at the Starr Ranch nest. It was sad to read, but I'm glad they're trying to find out what happened to cause the chicks' demise.

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 63313

Pawnee!!! Did I miss something? What has happened to the chicks!! I check this cam every time I check the other XCEL cams..and they have always been covered by a parent..I hadn't checked the past few days and then this morning!!!

Catbird · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2015 10:18 am

Oh no! I don't know what happened at the Pawnee nest. I've been checking the nest every day, but I haven't seen the chicks since May12. Every time I checked (including yesterday), the female was in the nest keeping the chicks covered, or so I thought. But to find an empty nest is totally surprising as I don't think they band the chicks here.

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 63313

I know they band the other XCEL nests...I just hope they are banding these...even though they seem too young to band...

I'll go check the RRP forum to see if there is any info..though, I can't remember if they follow Pawnee over there..

I could email the plant..but, I've done that in the past and they've never replied..

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AMERICAN KESTRELS ~ 2015

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