Date: 12/6/25 11:35 am From: richard cimino via groups.io <yellowbilledtours...> Subject: Re: [northbaybirds] [NWCALBIRD] high kestrel numbers and consistent nesting pair
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Rich Cimino
Larkspur, Marin County
Yellowbilledtours.com
From: <northbaybirds...> <northbaybirds...> On Behalf Of richard
cimino via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, December 6, 2025 10:48 AM
To: <NWCALBIRD...>; <northbaybirds...>
Cc: <tlin16...>
Subject: Re: [northbaybirds] [NWCALBIRD] high kestrel numbers and consistent
nesting pair
Hi All,
While I'm not seeing a high numbers of American Kestrels in Marin County.
I'd like to report a pair with a thirteen year record of nesting
successfully in Olompali State Park in, Navato, Marin County, CA. .
Also I want to share with you
Teresa asked to pass along some updates of her research. At the Wings and
Wisdom celebration potluck, Teresa shared her launching of the Golden State
Kestrel Research which is rapidly taking shape. The High County News
published an article earlier this month about part of her work:
<https://www.hcn.org/articles/searching-for-the-next-generation-of-american- kestrels/> Searching for the next generation of American kestrels.
If you are interested in following and supporting her research, Teresa would
like to share the updates below:
Help the Golden State Kestrel Research Network Reach the Next Kestrel
Milestone!
Thanks to incredible community support, we've already funded 18 Motus tags
for tracking American Kestrels - and by the time you read this, we may have
reached our goal of 20! Each tag helps reveal where kestrels travel and what
challenges they face on migration.
Now, we're aiming for our next stretch goal: funding 5 cellular tags. These
tags provide real-time data and unlock even deeper insights into kestrel
movements. Each one costs $2,000, so reaching this goal will take the same
kind of amazing community effort that has carried us this far.
Border to Border: Tracking American Kestrels in California Using the Motus
Wildlife Tracking System
Teresa Ely is a raptor biologist specializing in migration and long-term
monitoring. She is currently using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System to
study American Kestrels across California, with a focus on wintering
populations at the Salton Sea. She has also applied Motus to track
Sharp-shinned Hawks, expanding our understanding of raptor movements across
the region.
Teresa is a Golden Eagle Biologist with East Bay Regional Parks and
contributes to international raptor research collaborations through Boise
State University's Raptor Research Center. She previously managed a
long-term fall raptor migration banding station in the Marin Headlands,
where she trained hundreds of volunteers and led large-scale monitoring
projects. Her broader fieldwork experience includes studies of Swainson's
Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Ospreys, and Great Gray Owls, providing her with a
comprehensive perspective on raptor migration and movement patterns across
diverse landscapes.
On our annual November "Raptor Run" field trip here on the Mendocino Coast,
we tallied 24 AMKE, which I think is about average, maybe a little on the
low side. On the other hand, Red-tailed Hawk numbers seem much lower - we
counted 24 of them as well, whereas last year we counted 42, and 70 in 2023.
We haven't been tracking these numbers very well so I don't have good
comparative data, but the RTHA are definitely not as abundant here this
year.
--
Cheers,
Tim
"I now belong to a higher cult of mortals for I have seen the albatross."
Robert Cushman Murphy, 1912
mendocinocoastaudubon.org
kzyx.org/show/ecology-hour
kzyx.org/show/oak-and-thorn
On 12/3/2025 11:56 AM, Ken Burton via groups.io wrote:
Just as a point of interest, we had our highest count ever (33) of American
Kestrel yesterday on the 55th run of our 27-mile Loleta-Ferndale winter
raptor count (going back to December, 2007), smashing the old record of 26.
Are others noticing high kestrel numbers this winter?
