11-9-2023
This 1.3 second sequence is from the past summer at one of my American Kestrel nest boxes. The adult female came in to feed her nestlings a meadow vole. This was 3 days before the nestlings fledged and the dominant 2 (out of 4) were waiting at the entrance.
I had 3 American Kestrel nest boxes occupied this season and they successfully fledged 14 birds. Opportunity to photograph the boxes are available. I supply a new natural nest box for each pair every year.
The vole was passed to one of the nestlings and the other attempted to bite the adult female.
It latched onto her head feathers because she tucked her head.
It let go.
After a slight pause the aggressive nestling jutted forward again and the adult female pulled away fast.
Unfazed, the female (and male) returned to feed the nestlings very often that day with an average of about 12-15 minutes between visits. They brought grasshoppers, cicada bugs, crickets, voles, and a deer mouse. So that nestling was very well fed.
Below is a view from the other side of this nest box. I put 2 blinds in place, habituating the birds to both.
