American Kestrel Project

American Kestrels are North America’s most plentiful falcon, hovering over agricultural fields, pastures, rural roadsides, and even suburban backyards and city skylines to hunt insects, rodents, and other small prey. This small falcon is familiar even to casual observers, but a look at population numbers reveals a perplexing mystery: continent-wide, American Kestrels have declined by nearly half since the 1960s. Recent research seems to indicate that rather than there being one singular cause of this decline, it is likely there are multiple causes, but even after decades of research, exactly what these causes are remains elusive. Kestrels in one part of North America may be reacting to threats differently than those in other parts of the continent, or facing different threats entirely. The Peregrine Fund is partnering with researchers range-wide to accomplish one singular goal: identify the causes of kestrel decline now and keep this common species common.

Our Solutions

A kestrel perched on a utility wire with a purple leg band reading "6X" and two transmitter antenna on its back

Wintering Kestrel Research

A partnership with the University of North Texas studying survival rates and individual kestrels' movements to determine when and where kestrels are most threatened.

A citizen scientist checks a nest box for activity during breeding season

American Kestrel Partnership

A massive community science effort collecting breeding data from kestrel boxes across North America and beyond. The program merged with Cornell Lab of Ornithology's NestWatch in 2024.

A smiling scientist removing a kestrel nestling from a nest box for banding

Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring

A partnership with Boise State University supporting one of the largest and longest-running kestrel nest box monitoring programs in North America. In part due to the AKP's merger with NestWatch, this program was discontinued after the 2024 breeding season.

Bob, American Kestrel portrait

Paul Spurling

Conserving American Kestrels Continent-wide

Our Impacts

  • Established a network of approximately 2,500 professional researchers, community scientists, and other American Kestrel enthusiasts from around the world
  • Collected over 60,000 observations of kestrel breeding activity during 12 breeding seasons (2012–2023) from more than 5,200 nest boxes and other cavities in the United States, Canada, and five other countries
  • Engaged well over 200 adopters and gift recipients through our Adopt-a-Box program and raised more than $36,000 for replacement boxes, nest box cameras, fuel for surveys, and other costs
  • Utilized cutting-edge technology to track kestrel movements with GPS-level precision, identifying both wintering and breeding territories as well as migration pathways for individual kestrels for the first time
A male American Kestrel perched atop a dead tree

Carlos Suárez

Supporting Kestrel Research Across North America and Beyond

You Can Help

  • Donate today. Even a small donation can make a big difference.
  • Adopt a raptor. You'll help provide food, enrichment, travel, and medical care for one of our raptor ambassadors at the World Center for Birds of Prey, including our American Kestrel Penny. These hard-working members of our staff inspire thousands of people to engage in conserving birds of prey.
  • Monitor a kestrel box. If you have a kestrel box on your property, consider monitoring it for breeding activity, and submitting your findings to our partners at Cornell Lab of Ornithology's NestWatch. This data can then be used by scientists to answer research questions on a continent-wide scale. There are also many kestrel box projects around the country that accept volunteers; consider joining one of these projects as a box monitor.
  • Learn and Teach. Learn as much as you can about kestrels and other birds of prey then share what you have learned with friends and family.

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