‘Feisty little character’: Winnipeggers document special falcons that have made their property home

A Winnipeg couple is working to protect the American Kestral and help grow the species. Devon McKendrick has more.

A Winnipeg couple is doing its part to help better understand and protect North America’s smallest falcon.

Kim Bisson and her husband, Rick Onski, set up a birdhouse on their property for the American Kestrel to call home.

“The kestrel is such a feisty little character that we just fell in love with them when they moved into our neighbourhood, because, like a lot of wildlife, they’re losing their habitat for many different reasons, and so we have put up nest boxes to try to draw them into our area,” said Bisson.

Kestrels live in the Prairies and northern United States and are considered perch hunters. Their diet consists of voles and insects.

“They sit and they perch and they watch and they look for those rodents running around in the grass. And then, of course, the insects, once the insects are out.”

Bisson and Onski have been livestreaming the kestrel families since 2014 and working with local organizations to collect data on the raptor species.

Onski was a former cabinetmaker turned videographer. So, he created a bird box that fit multiple cameras inside and out, allowing them to get a bird’s-eye view of the kestrel.

This is their 11th season with baby birds, and they recently banded the newest hatchlings.

“We had two females and two males this year. So that’s always good for the population. Keep the species going.”

Banding is the process of taking a small metal band that has a unique number on it and wrapping it around the leg of the bird.

The number is entered into a database, and researchers can see where the bird has been, if it’s male or female, and track its growth.

“So there’s stations set up across all of North America and even in South America, where these birds migrate to. That’s allowed us to track this over time. So multiple generations, multiple species. So everything from really tiny little tree creepers all the way up to things like whooping cranes,” said Courtney Shuert, the conservation programs manager with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

Bisson and Onski have banded 45 kestrels since 2014.

Shuert said this practice is not only great for being able to understand the birds, but also what is happening globally.

“With things like climate change, one of the things that we’re learning from these bands is actually how migration has changed over time. So things like birds showing up earlier every year as a result of changing climate.”

Shuert noted having people like Bisson and Onski showcase an up-close and personal view of birds like the kestrel really brings the larger community closer to nature.

“Making that connection for people, I think, is really important. That’s a lot of the work that we do here at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, trying to connect people with their urban biodiversity. So efforts like that are really great to see.”

Bisson expects the babies to be ready any day now to leave the nest and start their own journey out into the world.