Kestrels Off to a Good Start

After sharing Rhoneymeade’s participation in the American Kestrel Nest Box Program and last year’s report in a March blog post, (Kestrels are Making a Comeback: Rhoneymeade Is Helping), we hope the 2026 season is off to a good start. Steve Eisenhauer visited the boxes earlier this month and shared these photographs with us. It appears that we have potential broods in two boxes: three eggs in one box and four or more in another. There’s a long way to go for these families. We’ll keep you posted.

South Box

There are at least four eggs in the box. Kestrels are North America’s smallest falcons and one of the most colorful raptors. The male searches for a suitable nesting cavity and presents it to the female for her approval. This is the male. They do not use nesting material. Instead, the bottom of the cavity needs to have loose material in it, and the female creates a depression in it for the eggs.

West Box

A typical clutch is four to five eggs and kestrels have 1-2 broods each season. The incubation period is 26-32 days and the nesting period is 28-31 days. Let’s hope this is a successful nest.

Reference for Kestrel information: CornellLab “All About Birds” here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/overview