Nesting Boxes

Owl, kestrel and blue jay nesting boxes attract raptors and other beneficial birds that offer many ecological benefits to a grower’s field. Owls are beneficial for hunting voles, mice and the occasional small bird; blue jays devour insects, and kestrels maintain a diet that is approximately 90% mice and 10% bird. This guide focuses on kestrel boxes, but click the Resources page for links to owl box information as well as more information on kestrel box specifications.

If there are plenty of cavities around, you may not need to add kestrel boxes, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Try to get your bird boxes up before winter, as raptors choose nesting sites in winter before other birds. Verne Gingerich in WA notes that kestrels choose a nesting site before April in his area.

Nesting boxes require diligent monitoring. If you don't check your boxes on a regular basis, starlings may nest in them. On the flip side, kestrels are very territorial during their nesting season and have been known to rip starlings right out of a box on their own.

Click on the green tabs below to open or close for more information.

Box specifications

The size of the box's opening can affect whether or not a kestrel will find the box suitable to live and nest in.

Kestrels are territiorial and will kick out other birds during the kestrel nesting season if kestrel boxes are set too closely together. The size of this territory depends on quality of the territory. That is, if a pair of kestrels have adequate hunting grounds within a few acres, you may be able to space the boxes more closely together. A rule of thumb is that 1 kestrel pair wil tolerate a 10 acre territory in low quality habitat.

Position of Boxes

Place kestrel boxes where kestrels have access to a variety of food sources, such as starlings, voles and mice. Positioning boxes between a field and a dairy, for example.

Boxes should face east because sun or moonlight on the front of a box can attract an occupant.

An area with a lot of trees is not ideal for a kestrel, as Coopers hawks may prey on kestrels.

Kestrels stay together when young and chase.

Kestrels migrate and reside.

Kestrels may die in first year.

Resources

Click on Gingerich Farms' Verne’s Corner for an example of one farm's habitat enhancement set-up.
Click on Update for kestrel box research updates from Trinity Western University.
Contact Professor Karen Steensma to have a consultant come to your field.
Click on OrchardGuard.com for an informaiton site made by a retired cherry grower in the Yakuma Valley who has experience making and placing kestrel boxes on farms.

Things we don't yet know about using kestrels for bird management

Do cannons scare kestrels?
How far should kestrel boxes be spaced in certain terrains?
Are kestrels more likely to stay in an area that offer a varied food source?