American Kestrels Outside My Window
© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

American Kestrels Outside My Window

calendarLucky for me, pigeons and starlings roost on the building across the street from my loft – this attracts kestrels, the smallest of all falcons, to come look for a meal right outside my window.

I’m honored that The Peregrine Fund selected my photo (above) for their 2014 calendar and feature my best “urban kestrel” photos on their American Kestrel Partnership website.

© 2016 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

This week a young female stopped by and I was quick enough to get some pictures before she flew away. I like how the blurred bricks in the background surround her with soft pink – contrasting the rusty metal, her sharp talons and killer instincts.

© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

Only kestrels are small enough to fit inside the pigeon nests…

© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

Others will try, but are too large… this is a Red-Tailed Hawk:

© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

This is a Cooper’s Hawk:

© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

Big thanks to my apartment building management for agreeing to use a natural solution of pigeon control instead of poison. Today we installed a Kestrel nest box on the rooftop near where the pigeons perch and poop. Hopefully this nest box will encourage the small falcons to stay – and the pigeons to leave. You can read more about it on EcoRI.org

© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

Kestrels will also assist in controlling the rodent population

© 2015 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

One Comment

  1. Posted 28 Aug ’14 at 1:27 pm | Permalink

    excellent photos!! How luck you are to have them so close, they’re so much fun to watch

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