Xcel Energy Kestrel Cam
Our Kestrel Cam features a special nest box installed at Pawnee Station in Brush, Colo. The box is installed atop the plant's boiler structure about 250 feet above the ground. This camera is installed through the roof of the nest box and captures an image of the kestrels from an overhead angle. The birds can enter the box through a special opening, an oblong hole versus round, which allows light in the box as the birds come and go. The box is painted white to help brighten the image and show off the kestrels' vivid colors.
The kestrels won't start to appear until April.
About
This color camera is installed through the roof of the nest box and captures an image of the kestrels at an angle from overhead. The birds can enter the box through a special opening, an oblong hole versus round, which allows light in the box as the birds come and go. The box also is painted white to help brighten the image and showoff the kestrels’ vivid colors.
Interested in corresponding with other Bird Cam viewers? Join the BirdCam Forum available through the Raptor Resource Project.
American Kestrel Facts
- American kestrels are colorful birds with distinctive double black markings on their white faces. Their backs are rust colored and their heads have blue plumage. Male kestrels have grayish blue wings while the females' wings are rust colored.
- The American kestrel is the smallest species of falcon found in the Americas. Full-grown male kestrels weigh only about 4 ounces and measure 9-12 inches in length. Females are generally larger than males.
- As their name implies, they are found in the Americas, both North and South. Their habitat includes farm areas, prairies, wooded streams and deserts.
- For years they were called sparrow hawks. They were renamed because they are not true hawks.
- American kestrels do not make their own nests but rely on empty magpie nests, cavities and holes in trees or cacti, nest boxes and niches in buildings.
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