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Keep up-to-date on all the nesting news.
Video Highlights
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Fledgling Supercut! Watch All Five American Kestrel Chicks Take Flight
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Fifth & Final Kestrel Chick Fledges With Early Morning Departure – June 15, 2025
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Fourth Kestrel Chick Fledges With Rocketing Flight From Nest Cavity – June 14, 2025
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Third American Kestrel Chick Fledges From Nest Box In Wisconsin – June 13, 2025
News
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June 15, 2025 Five Fledglings Depart The American Kestrel Nest
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May 16, 2025 American Kestrels Hatch Five Chicks In 2025
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April 22, 2025 American Kestrels Welcome Five Eggs In 2025
About the Kestrels
In general, the kestrels return to their box in February or March. Egg-laying begins in April or May, and eggs hatch roughly 26 to 32 days after they are laid. The young fledge between 28 and 31 days of age. Like peregrine falcons and bald eagles, American kestrel fledglings remain near the nest before dispersing in late summer. They eat invertebrates, small rodents, and birds including grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, dragonflies, spiders, butterflies and moths, voles, mice, shrews, small songbirds, small snakes, lizards, and frogs.
About the Site
The kestrels are nesting on private property near Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. Their nest box, located on the side of a traditional limestone-footed barn, overlooks a rolling grassland that slopes away into the folded hills and forests of the driftless. A nearby stream cuts through deeply incised limestone to join the Mississippi river roughly four miles west of the nest. This wonderful combination of grassland, forest, and water has supported kestrels for over 25 years, and is an excellent example of the habitat that kestrels need to survive and thrive.
About the Host
Founded in 1988 by the late Bob Anderson, the non-profit Raptor Resource Project specializes in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. They create, improve, and directly maintain over 50 nests and nest sites, provide training in nest site creation and management, and develop innovations in nest site management and viewing that bring people closer to the natural world. Their mission is to preserve and strengthen raptor populations, expand participation in raptor preservation, and help foster the next generation of preservationists.
About Cams

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Pileated Woodpecker by Lin McGrew / Macaulay Library