American Kestrel

[Elijah Clark]

I've been seeing a lot of kestrels eyeing my martins and sparrows recently from the nearby trees, and one even perched on the house during early February, just wondering if they have the capability to snatch up martins?

[KathyF]

Elijah, I've seen them come around and perch on my racks, and my martins tend to chase them off. But I've never seen one in full pursuit of a martin or even a tree swallow. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but I've never seen it. I suspect the adult martins can out fly them - but maybe they take young fledges sometimes? Personally, I think the Sharpies and Cooper's are a much higher rated threat.


Here's some info from the "all about birds" site.

American Kestrels eat mostly insects and other invertebrates, as well as small rodents and birds. Common foods include grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, and dragonflies; scorpions and spiders; butterflies and moths; voles, mice, shrews, bats, and small songbirds. American Kestrels also sometimes eat small snakes, lizards, and frogs. And some people have reported seeing American Kestrels take larger prey, including red squirrels and Northern Flickers.


https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ame ... ifehistory

[Matt F.]

There's an article I read, about a couple of colonies of western Purple Martins being predated on by American Kestrels.
The study was conducted by Martin experts Dan Kopp and Dan Airola.
Both colonies consisted of Purple Martins, and White-throated Swifts.
The the majority of the observed predation was on young Martins still in the nests. Unfortunately the Martins at these colonies are nesting in holes underneath concrete overpasses - holes that are large enough for the Kestrels to traverse as well.
However, there were also signs of adult Martin predation observed.
It appeared that the Kestrels' primary prey were young Martins still in the nests, which of course would not be an issue with large house/gourd compartments, which would keep the Kestrels from being able to reach in and grab something, in addition I'm sure they could not traverse any starling-resistant entrance, or standard 2 1/4" round hole either.
As for them going after adult Martins? Though it may not be their first choice, I wouldn't be surprise to see one try a sneak attack on some unsuspecting Martins, kicking back preening and/or sunning.
Kestrels are pretty close in size to Sharp-shinned Hawks.

[Elijah Clark]

Hi Matt and Kathy,
Guess I'll try putting up some DIY yourself owl guards to protect the babies a bit more . I also have SREH on my house so I guess it'll give em more of a challenge. As for the adult martins, let's hope they're vigilant and attentive to they're surroundings and attacks will be exremely rare. The grasshoppers are starting to come out now and that may fill their stomachs up enough to the point where they're not going after birds as frequently

Elijah

[KathyF]

That's an interesting story, Matt! As I told someone today, you can never say, "never" when it comes to animals. You just never know.

[dhjohnson]

This is the hardest lesson for us all. Nature and survival of the fitest. We modify, build cages, invent new deeper entrances, use air horns and whatever comes to hand. My husband always reminds me if you have something, you can lose it! We strive to protect the nests, but we cannot control their environment away from the immediate colony! We have already seen sparrow hawks, Coopers hawks and a migrating kestral come through. I can't say they were successful in taking martins but the martins treated them as predators! Point being, we give them, the martins, what chances we can. They survive without us most of the year, they too are responsible for their choices and actions or lack there of. Witnessing predation is hard...I watched a Coopers Hawk take 3 just about to fledge nestlings last year...all the screaming, waving arms didn't stop the hawk from taking the easy meal. It is harsh nature in action. Therefore, we do what we can!

[Matt F.]

That's an interesting story, Matt! As I told someone today, you can never say, "never" when it comes to animals. You just never know.

So true Kathy!
Prior to reading that article, I would've not considered American Kestrels to be much of a threat, if any, to Martins.
I think the info in your post probably better describes how most Kestrels behave towards Martins, and their preferred menu options.
That article I referenced is probably a much more rare occurrence, and those Kestrels were simply capitalizing on a unique situation (large numbers of western Martins in one spot, cavities they were able to enter, etc.)

[Fred]

I am in Marco Island, Florida and we have a few kestrels winter over here within a few blocks of my colony until about middle of April. From February until then they try to pick off my adults almost on a daily basis and about half the time they will nail one in mid flight after flushing the flock before they can get up to full speed. Most of the time they hit early in the AM and just about at dust. They are well on the way North by time I have babies sticking heads out of gourds, then comes the flocks of crows for the remaining of the nesting cycle. Crows seems to have little problems running down a fledging martin even with adults trying best to distract them. Every year it's more of the same plus then some. I have no love for either bird!!

[eyeamtheman]

I see that Florida has an actual season on crows.,
That's too bad because in Louisiana there is NOT, and they wouldn't fare very well if they showed interest in my colony.

[Ladybug]

American Kestrels:
That is good to know. I've had a Male Kestrel past 3 days sitting on top of PM pole watching for a meal.
We have had a M/F nest a few years ago, only see them now and then.
So good to know they don't usually take Martins. Thanks for info. .