[Tweeters] Assistance with kestrel project

[via Tweeters]

Tweeters,

 

I received the following request (in quotes) from a professor and friend on
the faculty at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Although she is a
marine biologist, she has been very instrumental in projects involving the
enticement of kestrels to berry fields through the placement of nest boxes
to help control starling populations. I was involved initially with the
research and the methods have been quite successful.

 

"I have a student, Jane Doe, working on a thesis relating to population
levels of the American kestrel in lower mainland of BC and northwest
Washington State.  Beginning in 2007 there has been quite a bit of
TWU-related (Trinity Western University) research on this species in the
region. Many undergraduate thesis projects were completed during this time,
with nearly a hundred nest boxes placed in the lower mainland and Whatcom
County (WA), as well as a couple of dozen boxes in the Okanagan region.

 

The long-term project also involved translocation of 21 pre-fledging
kestrels from areas of plentiful population in eastern Washington, for
release in western Washington under my direction, with appropriate permits.

 

In summer 2022- 2024 three more students, including Jane, made observations
on an occupied box near Chilliwack.

 

Unfortunately, we have not had the resources to keep tabs on overall box
occupancy per se, and many boxes have since fallen into disrepair. But we do
have some anecdotal reports that overall kestrel numbers in our local
agricultural areas have increased in this nearly 20-year period.  Some
attempts have been made to access citizen science data re AMKE sightings, to
see if these numbers [at least indirectly] support the idea of AMKE
population increase in the region, but we haven't gotten very far with that.

 

Obviously, we have lots of data, and some ideas about where to go with this
project. But we'd love some assistance. Would you be interested in working
with Jane and me, to give input and brainstorm on this data set?"

 

I'm hoping that someone on our list serve may have some information or a
resource regarding this request. Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

Don Aupperlee, DVM

 

 

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