Kestrels revisited: Local landowners provide new homes for the small falcons

The new star of Rappahannock County is the kestrel, the colorful, feisty, falcon featured in this newspaper in August last year.

The kestrel is North America’s smallest falcon. Its dwindling numbers have scientists mystified and now landowners in Rappahannock and surrounding counties are stepping up, erecting nest boxes and helping to monitor the threatened raptors in what has become a remarkable multi-organization, avian endeavor.

“After that article came out, our phone just started ringing,” said Justin Proctor, program coordinator for Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative. The initiative is run by the Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL), which promotes science-based land management practices to benefit grassland birds. “Within a week of publication, we got at least seven calls from people interested in putting kestrel boxes on their land – and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said.

The grassland bird initiative is supported by the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC); American Farmland Trust; and Quail Forever. And it complements ongoing kestrel research by another Smithsonian project at the National Zoo Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Front Royal, and the Clifton Institute in Warrenton. The groups work in concert to develop conservation practices on grasslands where kestrels and other birds forage and nest.

To keep up with the public demand for kestrel boxes, Proctor, and October Greenfield, PEC’s wildlife habitat coordinator, enlisted the Rappahannock County High School (RCHS) building trades program. Armed with grants from the Volgenau Foundation and the Richard Lykes Fund, Proctor and Greenfield covered the cost of 55 kestrel boxes.

“The students built 30 boxes last year, and 25 this semester which will be installed later this fall,” said Greenfield. “After the boxes were built, I went into the classroom and gave a talk on how their involvement was helping make positive conservation changes that can benefit kestrels. All in all, it was a wonderful way to involve students in a program that is making a positive difference for kestrels.”

Scott Schlosser, the RCHS building trades tech instructor agreed, calling the project a “win-win” for his students. “Not only did they get woodworking experience, but they learned a lot from October about the nesting and foraging habits of these beautiful raptors.”

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In the last decade Virginia Working Landscapes got to know more than 200 landowners, 22 of them in just the last 12 months. “Over the past year the kestrel has become our number one tool in connecting with landowners. It’s a great door-opener. Talking about putting up nesting boxes often leads into broader conversations about land management practices that benefit a variety of bird life,” said Proctor. “There are now so many kestrel boxes around the area, people are taking notice and want to become involved in the program.” 

According to Proctor, “a big handful” of the new boxes already are occupied. With kestrels expected to actively adopt boxes into early May, even more are likely. “First-year occupancy can sometimes be as high as 40%, which would be exciting to reach this year,” he said.

Barbara Caceres, a social worker who lives outside Flint Hill, is one of those people.

After noticing her neighbor’s kestrel box, Caceres got in touch with Proctor and had a box placed on her property. “As I learned more, our discussion turned to what we as landowners could do to further improve our fields, not just for kestrels, but other grassland birds,” she said.

Caceres quickly became a neighborhood booster for the grassland bird initiative, organizing local field outings with habitat experts. “On one of our walks last May, we had over 20 people attend. As a result, several of our neighbors delayed haying their fields until after the Fourth of July so nesting birds had a chance to get their fledglings out before cutting began.”

Gid Brown Hollow resident George Gardner is another who stepped up, offering to monitor the six boxes in his area. “The kestrel article last fall is what stimulated me to get involved,” said the retired condominium management consultant. “I have degrees in wildlife and systems ecology, and formerly worked at the Department of Interior, so this project provided a perfect opportunity for me to engage in a local wildlife conservation project.”

Trained by research team member Alan Williams, Gardner uses a pole-mounted camera to peek into the boxes. “I check each box once a week to see if it is occupied, look for any eggs, and hopefully record hatchlings when they come. The research team and each landowner receive a weekly update on my findings. It is an exciting time of year and with luck some of the boxes will soon hold fledglings.”

The increase in nesting boxes gives researchers at NZCBI a better handle on kestrel populations, but only if they are monitored regularly.

“Having all these new boxes going up can be a big help with our research project,” said Joe Kolowski, a research scientist and training manager at NZCBI. “It is great if kestrels use the boxes, but from a research standpoint those boxes need to be monitored so we can generate data to understand kestrel declines. This year we are undertaking a pilot program to recruit volunteers and landowners to keep track of box activity.”

For the past two years Kolowski has been tracking a handful of kestrels outfitted with mini-GPS transmitter “backpacks.” This spring, he, Burt Harris, co-executive director of the Clifton Institute, Williams, and a group of interns are putting transmitters on another 40 kestrels. “The transmitters, combined with data from the nesting boxes, will give us a very good picture about the habits of kestrels, where they hunt, how they use the landscape, and how far they migrate.”

The groundbreaking program enables researchers to track kestrels with pinpoint accuracy. One kestrel, named “Peaches,” migrated hundreds of miles, from its nesting area at the Clifton Institute to a farm in Georgia, where it spent the winter. The following spring it returned to its nest box at the institute. “If you are trying to assess the risk factors to kestrels, like habitat loss, you need to know where they are spending the entire year,” said Kolowski.

Local interest in kestrels was sparked largely by now deceased Rappahannock County resident, Roger Jones, who started putting kestrel boxes all around the county about 25 years ago.

“He worked with local conservationists who had an interest in kestrels, and that eventually led to the nest box program now underway,” said his brother, Bruce, who with his wife Susan, maintains a large nature preserve off Long Mountain Road, near the Town of Washington. “I’m sure Roger is looking down from somewhere and smiling at all these people taking care of kestrels,” he said.

When it comes to environmental protection, Caceres, who grew up in a rural community, believes simple actions by individuals make a difference.

“There is so much discussion about environmental degradation, species loss, and climate change that one feels little ability to bring about change,” she said. “But doing something like putting up a kestrel box is a positive action that mitigates the feeling of helplessness. If each of us did what we could in our own backyards, I’d like to think collectively we could make a difference.”

By Bob Hurley for Foothills Forum

To learn more about the kestrel program or grassland conservation contact Justin Proctor of VWL at [email protected], or October Greenfield of PEC at [email protected].