American Kestrel Information
This once-common inhabitant of fallow fields and pastures has declined in recent years, and the reasons are largely unknown. In February, 2012, the American kestrel became listed as a State Threatened species. Below are links to some of the work ENSP has been conducting on this falcon.
2004 American Kestrel Survey (pdf, 334kb) The Endangered and Nongame Species Program embarked on a survey campaign in 2004, and the findings were alarming.
In 2006, ENSP started working with Dr. John Smallwood from Montclair University. Dr. Smallwood has run a successful kestrel nest box program since 1995 in northwestern New Jersey. One result of this collaboration was an article in a special issue of the Journal of Raptor Research focusing on American kestrels, American Kestrel breeding habitat: The importance of patch size (pdf, 375kb).
Using Dr. Smallwood’s nest box program as a model, ENSP started a nest box program in 2006 (NJDEP Map Contest poster summarizing ENSP kestrel work). To further test the importance of patch size, ENSP placed nest boxes in habitat patches of different sizes and tracked their use by kestrels. The results of this study as well as a summary of the nest box program can be viewed in the New Jersey American Kestrel Nest Box Project 2006-2012 report (pdf, 3.6mb).
In December of 2012, ENSP presented a poster at the ESRI Mid-Atlantic User Group Conference, American Kestrel Habitat Loss and Fragmentation (pdf, 1.9mb). The poster summarizes American kestrel habitat within New Jersey over a 21 (1986-2007) year period.
Volunteer as a Nest Box Monitor - Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ
Please report your sightings of this bird, especially in the breeding season (April – July) using the Sighting Report Form.
American Kestrel Fact Sheet (pdf, 70kb)
ADDITIONAL LINKS
