American Kestrel Presentation and Live Raptors

Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch (MSRW) and LTC are coming together to reinvigorate our citizen science volunteer project monitoring American Kestrels. The American Kestrel is the smallest falcon found in our region and their populations have been in decline nationally for over 40 years.

In 2012, LTC’s kestrel volunteer monitoring program started collecting crucial data for the Peregrine Fund and now the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The data is used to help understand why the population has declined and how we can help them thrive on our lands. This research has included banding adults and chicks on several Conservancy-protected properties. We are excited to work with our new volunteer kestrel data manager, Kelly Davis, and to have MSRW’s expertise supporting this project.