The American kestrel is in free fall, and no one knows why
Once prevalent in Montreal, the littlest falcon's downfall is a bellwether for hard times. 鈥淭he story of the kestrel is happening to other bird species.鈥�
Throughout the 1900s, North America鈥檚 littlest falcon was also described as the continent鈥檚 most common and widespread. Small but fierce and marked with bright plumage rare in the raptor world, the American kestrel could be seen throughout the continent, diving and swooping in fallow fields or under the stadium lights at baseball games, hunting for plump moths or small mice.
In the Montreal area, they lived in the suburbs, in places like Vaudreuil-Dorion and 脦le-Perrot, drawn by unused fields and abundant food.
Students and professors with 平特五不中鈥檚 Avian Science and Conservation Centre bred the kestrels in captivity for nearly four decades starting in the 1970s, placing them in small cages in cardboard boxes. They reproduced well, and students and their teachers bred between 2,500 and 3,000 American kestrels over 40 years.
...鈥淚t鈥檚 like a big black hole 鈥� we have no idea why they鈥檙e declining,鈥� said David Bird, professor emeritus of wildlife biology at 平特五不中 and a former bird columnist for the Montreal Gazette, who created and ran the university鈥檚 prolific breeding colony. 鈥淲e saw after a while that they were breeding well, but the youngsters weren鈥檛 coming back. They weren鈥檛 surviving. What鈥檚 particularly interesting is that the story of the kestrel is happening to other bird species.鈥�