Following the I-80 Kestrel and Bluebird Trail

By Steve Duecker
NDOR Wetlands Biologist

Alert drivers along Interstate 80 between Omaha and Grand Island may notice some new homes in the area. Kestrel nesting boxes have been built and installed at 10 sites.

Kestrels are small falcons about the size of a dove. They weigh from 3 to 5 ounces and are native to Nebraska. Cavities in trees and occasional nooks of buildings or cliffs are used for nesting. Their diet consists mainly of large insects and mice, although small birds are occasionally taken. Kestrels are very colorful falcons and one of the few raptors in which the male and female have different plumage color. The male kestrels generally select and defend their nesting territory in early March.

In many areas of the country the only area left with habitat that the kestrel can use for hunting is the highway right-of-way. Kestrels are frequently seen perched or hovering along the roadway hunting. It was found that kestrels would use manmade nest boxes to replace lost nesting sites due to dead tree removal.

A few years ago, several states started placing nest boxes on the backs of highway signs. The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR), in cooperation with the Sierra Club and
the Audubon Society, has done this on I-80 for several years. The nest boxes require yearly cleaning and monitoring to prevent European starlings from using the box. The Sierra Club monitored the boxes.

Program Continues

Due to declining use of the boxes and concerns for personnel safety, the Sierra Club decided to remove the boxes from I-80 and terminate the program. However, NDOR felt the program should continue in some fashion. Also, at this time the NDOR was approached by Bluebirds Across Nebraska for permission to place bluebird boxes on I-80.

After meeting with these groups and Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, a plan was devised to place poles for kestrel and bluebird boxes at interchanges and rest areas on I-80 out of the main traffic flow. A design for a new type of tilting kestrel pole was developed and then built by Bluebirds Across Nebraska. This pole will allow boxes to be maintained and monitored without the use of a ladder. Sierra Club and Bluebirds Across Nebraska will monitor the nest boxes.

The NDOR set 10 kestrel poles in late January at selected sites on I-80 from Gretna to west of York. Bluebirds Across Nebraska set the bluebird boxes and mounted the kestrel nest boxes on the poles.

Each site has both kestrel and bluebird boxes. They are as far apart from each other as possible. The nesting of both species will overlap, and it is possible, but highly unlikely, that a kestrel could take a bluebird for food. Bluebirds feed on small insects and some seeds.

Boxes Monitored

Kestrels generally lay eggs around the 1st of April, young hatch in 28 to 30 days and generally fledge in 30+ days. Volunteers from Bluebirds Across Nebraska and the Sierra Club will monitor the boxes twice a week until the kestrels have established the box as a nest site. The kestrels and bluebirds will be banded with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bands.

After evaluating this nesting season another 10 kestrel poles will be placed on I-80 from Gretna to Grand Island. Informational kiosks are also being developed for the rest areas along this section of I-80.

Many have contributed to this effort, including Districts 1, 2 and 4, who helped set the poles. The NDOR Arts & Graphics Unit has been instrumental in developing the information displays, and Velta Didrichsons of the Wetlands Unit created a location map of the sites.

Reprinted from “The Roadrunner”, April-May 2003

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