Henrys Fork Wildlife Alliance celebrated the start of spring by hosting a Kestrel box-building event in Ashton on March 23rd to help provide new homes for declining species. The event aimed to educate community members about American Kestrels and provide a step-by-step workshop on how to construct the box. 

Participants were equipped with a pre-cut wood kit, tools, and step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the box. With the help of a partner, participants worked with one another to insert screws, nails, and adhesive to erect the box. By the end of the event, everyone left with a newly built birdhouse that will be displayed on their property to attract an American Kestrel. As a part of this workshop, HFWA provides participants with the opportunity to have their boxes monitored once a kestrel decides to make it their home. 

Caitlin Wanner, the volunteer and project coordinator, gave a detailed background about how the project first began, “My uncle has a farm in Rexburg and every summer his barn is filled with squeaking and squawking starlings and sparrows. One year, he had a pair of Kestrels that moved in and made a nest in a crack of the barn. Soon after, his barn was the quietest it had ever been”. 

The project is part of HFWA’s ongoing Kestrels for Conservation, a program that helps farmers and landowners benefit from the natural services of American Kestrels while hopefully helping the kestrel population, which is declining nationwide.