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Suburban Kestrel nest box site

ABOVE: Suburban Kestrel Falcon nest box site, Northern VA near Dulles Airport on 5/11/2003. In the nest were the remains of a song bird that the Kestrels had eaten, a partially eaten Meadow Vole, and 2 Kestrel eggs. The Vole was probably just offered by the father Kestrel to the mother Kestrel as a bonding gesture. This bonding might slow down and then stop sometime after the rest of the eggs are laid.

This Kestrel box is actually next to a road and a roadside business in a rural area that is being built up with housing subdivisions. According to the banders that checked this box, it has produced offspring for many years. The Kestrels there are apparently tolerant of all the nearby human activity.