Eggs Coming and New Box Occupants

Female kestrel at the Grasslands

It's the 3rd week in April and the forecast tonight calls for snow. Come on! While winter is officially over, it is not going out without a fight. I, for one, am done with it. On a positive note, kestrels are occupying several nest boxes in Ulster County. In 2017, the first kestrel eggs were laid on April 24th. I hope to have a look inside occupied boxes in a few days to see if egg-laying has begun. The birds seem to be on a similar schedule to last year, even though this April has been a lot cooler with more precipitation. Stay tuned...I will post some video clips or photos of the upcoming camera checks.

Banded Male at the Grasslands. ©Clay Spencer

As birds set up breeding territories and occupy nest boxes, I've been looking for banded birds from last year. The male in the above photo nested last year at one of the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR boxes and has been on his nesting territory since at least January. He may have wintered in the area. Anyway, his apparent mate for this year is completely unbanded. I banded the breeding female from this box in 2016 and she returned last year, but it looks like there is a new female in 2018. Did the banded female move territories, leave the area, or is she dead? All possible. I also got a look at another pair on the refuge yesterday, and both birds are unbanded. Interestingly, the male is a second-year bird. The pair that nested at this box were both color-banded last year and successfully fledged 4 young kestrels. My concern is that the banding of these birds has somehow caused them to abandon this territory. It's mild concern and I don't really think this is the case, but it is possible. At yet another occupied box, where I banded the female last season, the current female is unbanded. It seems there is a pattern here. This could just be dynamics of the local kestrel population. Since I only began studying these birds in 2016, I've only had a short glimpse at the lives of these birds so I can't accurately comment on what it means...yet. This season, I'm making a concerted effort to leave the birds alone until their clutches are complete.

Female at Phillies Bridge, with food delivered by her mate

Finally, I'm seeing pairs at a couple of boxes where starlings were in charge last year. This is encouraging. The female above and her mate have been hanging around one of these boxes and it looks like they will breed. I witnessed some courtship feeding yesterday after recent observations of the pair in the general area. I think it is important that kestrels occupy a box early so that starlings are less apt to use it. Hopefully this will play out.

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