Above: LEFT: Box 1 close-up after painting. RIGHT: Before painting. It is open to show "whitewashing", which even reached the ceiling and the roof overhang. This "whitewashing" is bodily waste from the baby Kestrels. An old soiled cob web is in the top right. There was no evidence of post fledge insect/bug/invertebrae activity other than an occasional fly entering and leaving. There was an overwhelming stench of ammonia and old urine, even before the box was open. It was worse when open. I have read that this high ammonia content in the baby Kestrel eliminations deters parasitic creatures.

Above: Box 1, open showing "whitewashing" on ceiling.

Above: Box 1, open showing soiled, matted-down floor and "whitewashed" walls. At the top, center, it looks like one of what I call a: "carrion beetle" (brown) entered and possibly died after eating some of the floor residue. There were lots of grasshopper legs (yellow/beige) and wings (black & cream color), and Katydid wings (green) in there. There were also pellets (they look like compressed dust bunnies) that they spit out after digesting the absorbable parts of their food. At the center, slightly to the bottom right, there appears to be a bird claw, it is upside-down. I saw a few small brown-gray feathers in there but I could not identify any other prey besides lots of insects and the birds' remains. I find this to be unusual. However, the babies did have blood on the sides of their mouths when only a few days old. I have never seen these box #1 Kestrels carry anything large enough to identify, such as a Vole(looks like a Lemming). I've seen Kestrels in other areas carry rodents on numerous occasions, often near boxes and when I spent only little time near them. All of the other western MD active Kestrel boxes I know of are near several cattle feed lots. There is only one farm with livestock (some horses) within a mile radius of the box. This might account for the slim supply of rodents as prey.

My conclusion: The baby Kestrels were probably fed small birds and possibly some rodents when they were younger, but their diet probably changed to mostly or completely large insects as they became older. Rodents and non-aviary vertebrae didn't appear to be a major part of their diet.

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