Things got exciting on the Kestrel Nestcam in Boise, Idaho last Wednesday, April 27.  By the end of the day four of the five kestrel eggs had hatched. The fifth one hatched the next day.

Watch the first feeding in the video above.

American kestrels nest in holes and will readily use a nest box so The Peregrine Fund erected one on their campus and set up two streaming cameras — one inside the box and one outside.  Click here to watch the KestrelCam in Boise, sponsored by Bosch.

Here are some cool things you’ll notice about the kestrels:

• The chicks are all the same size because they hatched within about 24 hours. Kestrels’ synchronous hatching strategy is similar to peregrines.(*)
• American kestrels have malar stripes (mustaches) just like peregrines.
• Their markings make it look as if they have eyes on the backs of their heads.
• Kestrels are more colorful than peregrines but the mother’s plumage is muted compared to the male’s.  She’s striped and brown.  He has a cinnamon back and blue-gray wings.
• When the chicks lose their down and develop juvenile plumage, they’ll resemble their mother.

Idaho is two time zones away so you’ll see these birds in the sun for two hours after night has begun in Pittsburgh.

Thank you to “Norca” for alerting me to this Kestrel Cam.

Ooops! This morning the inside-the-box camera is down for maintenance.  Please be patient … and watch the videos listed below the cam window.

(*)  NOTE:  Hatching at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest is delayed this spring because Hope started incubation about a week before she laid the 4th egg.  Her mate E2 died March 15. Terzo arrived on or before March 23.  There was a 15 day gap between the 3rd and 4th egg.

(video from the American kestrel nestcam, The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho)