Kirby the Kestrel's Family

A young, recently fledged male kestrel was found on the bleachers right inside Target Field last week, right before a Twins game. For those of you who follow this blog, you know what that means…it might be “Kirby” the kestrel’s son! The little falcon was healthy, just first learning how to use its wings. Awkward at this stage, young kestrels are often found in a variety of interesting places – on the ground, on top of people’s decks and air-conditioners, etc. Usually they are just fine and the parents continue to feed them as their flying skills improve. Sometimes, however, the youngsters are in unsafe locations and so they are brought to TRC and put through a slow release process, called a hack. It was decided to move him to a safer location to learn to fly and hunt.

Joining the Target Field youngster was a group of four male kestrels that fell victim to the tornado that tore through Blooming Prairie. The wind’s fury knocked their nest tree down (in fact all the trees in the area were affected) and the youngsters, not yet old enough to fly, plummeted to the ground. Amazingly, they were uninjured, and should be old enough to go the release site next week.

Since this is the time of year that many raptors are raising families, the public may have questions about what to do if they find an injured raptor. The Raptor Center answers some of these questions here.

Please consider donating to help us continue our work to keep raptors flying free!