don't worry, I was gentle, this photo looks really strange but she is absolutly not afraid of my hand, when I wear glove...without it, she wants to fight my hand
I put piece of meat on my wrist and when she wanted to get it, she had to stand up on my hand..and since then, she's not afraid of it, I may touch her and even I may lift her a bit
Incredible series. You're in a situation most of us can merely dream of experiencing. And to be able to touch Mom without it biting you is quite unusual; Kestrels must really be used to humans there. I'll be looking forward to your updates...
First I thought it was strange for a bird to nest in a flower planter and now she lets you hold her! You sure this isn't a pet kestrel? Awesome pictures and story. Can't wait for more.
Thank you again for your comments, I'm really glad you like it.
I have some news. Some bad and some good.
Bad: other 2 eggs didn't hatch. They didn't hatch after two weeks, even when they were laid 2 days after second one. Mother didn't take care of them for more then one week, because she's taking care about her children. So I took them from the nest to make babies more space. At first, I was looking through them on strong light (hoping I will see something inside), but I couldn't see anyting, so I put them to small plastic bag and opened one of them. There was nothing. Eggs wouldn't never hatch, no signs of life inside.
edit:I forget; I'm afraid, that mother is sick. I'm not sure about that, but last few days she's standing on only one leg.When I'm touching her, I can touch that other leg, she doesn't react, but she's holding it in like "fist", and she always blinks with one eye, but I don't know if these are connected
Good: Babies grow up REALLY fast!!! Older one is huge, but is much bigger than younger one and there's only 4 days between them, so older must eat much more than younger...but there's now way how can I help the second one.
Today I playd with mother on balcony - hide & seek She's watching me all the time, she was standing on that cabinet, I crouch so she couldn't see me. She came to see me immideatly. Walked across the pot, head up and looked at me from height.
Chicks are angry on me, when I try to touch them. Younger one sleeps all the time, but older is angry, scared. I would like to babies get used to me.
And finally, some fresh family photos:
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Edited on Jun 06, 2008 at 07:31 AM
Jun 06, 2008 at 07:27 AM
anthony whitmo Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Amazing detailed photos !!! Just remember that YOU could pass on some form of illness or sickness to these guys. I think I'd stop handling them and just watch and photograph. I know it's soooo tempting to handle and touch them >> But to keep the health and wellness of the animals you should not touch them
This is a great photo series. I am amazed and impressed that you can get that close. And let alone hold the mother.
Sorry to hear that she appears to be sick. One of the dangers for the top predators like hawks is that they can accumulate poisons from their prey. As an example, in New York City, some perigrine falcons have been lost because of eating poisoned pigeons.
Is it possible that this may be happening to your "visiting" kestrels? You might want to scout the area around your building for any poisons being set out for varmints, pigeons, etc. And pickup and dispose of any dead birds you see, so that the Kestrels don't get a poisoned bird.
I would also suggest that you immediately contact a bird rehabilitation expert. They can provide you with more exact information. Do you have laws there about protecting hawks?
On touching and holding the mother: I would be very careful on this and not do it very often. However, if she is sick, that you can hold her will help you get her to a rehabilitation center.
On the babies: Without both parents the little ones don't stand much of a chance. Additionally if this is a poison problem, the babies will be even more vulnerable than the adults. One poster suggested that raw hamburger was a suitable food for them. I don't know if that is so. But a rehaber should be able to tell you.
So please contact a local bird rehabilitation expert immediately. Let us know how it goes and if we can help let us know. I will contact a local rehabber here in the states and will pass on what they say.
Here is some more information from a local hawk rehabber and a couple of links to Slovakian rehab. It sounded to the rehabber that poisoning could be a high probabliltiy. But that there could be other causes of the mother appearing ill. And yes the chicks are very vulnerable to poisons. The birds need to be examined by an expert hawk rehabber.
1) Get in touch with a hawk rehab expert IMMEDIATELY. See links below.
2) Do not feed them hamburger. It contains too much fat and will not be digested properly. The only food the local rehabber would suggest are mice and crickets. But they strongly suggest that you MUST get a rehabber involved immediately.
3) Is the male still coming around? If not, he may also have been poisoned. If he is still healthy, he can provide enough food for the famly. But you need to eliminate any sources of possibly poisoned hawk food; such as dead birds & rodents. Destroy all bait poisons that you can find. And elist the help of your freinds, the building management on making the area safe for these birds.
4) This looks like it is a "top of the food chain" poison situation. And if this is a poison, the affected mother and babies need to receive medication and treatment to give them even any chance of survival. So a Rehabber is absoluteky need immediately.
From what I described to the local rehabber here, she says this is a critical emergency. You need to act immediately. And she meant imemdiately, today, now. Even 1 day will likely be too late.
A Google search got these links:
Listed rehab expert for Slovakia
Slovakia, Banska Bystrica..... +421/905/470791
Michal Adamec (member), Birds of Prey and Owls Saving Club [email protected]
Wildlife Species: raptors only
You can probably do better locally, but at least this may be a place to start. The fact that you can hold the mother may turn out to be a life saver for her.
We don't have any poisons on the streets, I'm totally sure about it, because I'm often outside and I haven't noticed anything like it. They are not important here, because, you will be surprised, but - we don't have rats on the streets Anyway, I live few metres from fields and they hunt only there...they don't hunt city mice and rats.
And about that sickness, I was pointing to her LEG (now I think that there was some mistake in my english language skills and "sick" is not the right word ) but it is possible, that something else is happening to them...
Yes, we have laws about protecting hawks, but kestrel is not a hawk and it is not protected in our country, there are really lots of them in a wild, only few last years they moved to cities. And that's why I didn't contact anyone about it, but sometimes I was thinking about it. I'm afraid, that we don't have any rehabilitation centers in my city and travelling far (hundreds of kilometres) with wild bird is not the best for him.
And I have other question about their behavior, today I was just standing on balcony and watching the family, suddenly mother started to scream. I thought, that she's afraid of me so I started to move to a flat, to get there, I had to go around nest and when I was closing, she screamed again...then she went out of pot and flew away, I was watching her and she went to male on a roof, where she fighted him!!
Now I read your post, I will contact the man you found, thank you for that, and I will talk to him about next steps. But problem is - as I wrote and I know about it, that cities, where it can be possible, are hundreds kilometres from me.
::I couldn't get anyone responsible on the phone, I'm waiting for response to my email.
Sorry if there was a miscommunication. I am not implying anything about Slovakian health conditions. Here we have, at times, a serious problem with appartment and building managers deciding to poison pigeons. They don't even think about the poison's possible effects on people or birds. And the same applies to the situation with rodent poisons. So I figured it can happen anywhere.
And even the country side areas are not exempt to this problem of the misues of poisons. As an example. we are looking at a serious decline in the Barn Owl population. It looks to have been made worse by rodent poisons. We have instituted a program that now encourages farmers to look at the Barn Owl as the more efficient free rodent control that they can be. Here todays difficult economics helps because the birds do the work for free. And all the farmer needs to do is let us place a habitat box for the birds. And the current problem is finding enough barns as "big agriculture" becomes even more dominant over small farms.
regarding the Kestrel not being a hawk. Technically you seem to be right, it is in the falcon family. Here our legislation groups hawks and falcons and they get the same protection. To me they look like a small hawk; so I call them hawks in error.
On language: You deserve all the credit for your english skills. But yes injured might be a more accurate description, if it is only her leg. I repect that you're writing in Engkish and while I have the Rosetta Stone language CD's. I can neither speak nor read any Slovakian. So definitely no apology needed on your part, at all.
So I'm just trying to help a bit. And yes I'm interested in how this all works out. Where are you in Slovakia? I will look it up on a topo map if you give me the city or town.
