Snakes ? Call 911-Raptor !

First of all I would like to thank you "guys n gals" for the positive feedback and the load of questions I received in regards to this block.

So having said this I would like to pick up one of the question I received in connection with the article about Barn Owls.

"Do Barn Owls take care of my "snake-problem", too ? "

No unfortunately they don't. However keeping up the principles of the food-chain, nature did provide a snake-eater for us to make use of.

The North American Kestrel, the smallest and most colorful raptor on the continent !

The American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America—about the size of an American Robin and are often incorrectly called “sparrow hawks.”
Kestrels like exposed perches such as telephone poles, wires, fence posts, and dead branches on trees. They are swift, erratic fliers, and in a flat flight they may travel at up to 39 mph, and they can dive at speeds up to 60 mph. They pump their tails and bob their heads while perched, especially when agitated. Kestrels are capable of hovering when hunting, and this behavior is seen frequently over highway medians. They will dive feet first when hunting insects and usually capture them by pinning them to the ground rather than capturing them with their beak. They will dive for other prey items head first to gain additional speed and force.

Its diet consists of snakes, lizards, bats, smaller birds, mice, voles, and insects (beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas). Kestrels will feed mainly on mammals and birds during the early parts of the breeding season and lizards, snakes later in the breeding season. They concentrate on hunting invertebrates when readily available.

Despite the overall health of American kestrel populations throughout the New World, some populations, including those in Florida, Texas, Arkansas and some northeastern states, are decreasing due to habitat alteration.

Many raptor species are in danger. Human-caused changes in land use are escalating, and this affects the habitats and migratory corridors required by some raptors for survival. Vast forests are removed for timber and other paper products, and industrial emissions pollute water and air resources.
Critical shoreline and riparian zone habitats are rapidly converted by expanding human communities and agricultural needs. Illegal shooting and trapping are also lowering raptor numbers. It's only a matter of time until more raptor species may face extinction, unless we protect their habitats.

However humans need raptors !

Here are only a few of the benefits raptors provide:

• Raptors help keep animal populations in balance.
• Raptors consume many animals that humans consider as pests, including mice, rats and destructive species of insects. This helps to control disease and damage to crops.
• As top predators of their food chain, raptors are an indicator species of the overall health of the ecosystem in which they live.
• Of equal importance, witnessing wild raptors enriches each of our lives. Imagine what life would be like if we could no longer gaze upon the grandeur of raptors soaring high above.

Efforts to save threatened and endangered raptors require cooperation and support at international, national, regional and individual levels. You can help in this cause. Installing nesting boxes and protecting vital habitat required by these raptors will help to stabilize these populations. Recycle forest products, plant trees around your meadows, eliminate or reduce pesticide use. Support breeding programs for endangered birds of prey at zoos and other animal care organizations. Let your elected representatives know your views about the conservation of migratory birds and their wild habitats.

Here we have it, another project for those long winter nights :-)
Building Nesting Boxes for kestrels

I am looking forward to those pictures coming in from all of you and even more important, I would like to hear from you and your experience with your own little "raptor community"

If you would like some more input on how to deal with those "little guys" you might want to check out: http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/per/b2a.htm

Have fun :-)