Feathers fly after RSPB shoots down Kestrel sponsorship

Dominic Walsh

March 12 2019, 12:01am, The Times

In the wild, a kestrel might normally be expected to get the better of a grouse, but at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds it is the game bird that appears to have the upper hand.

The 130-year-old charity has just called time on a £20,000-a-year corporate sponsorship agreement with Kestrel lager citing “reputational risk”, yet it continues to list The Famous Grouse Scotch whisky as one of its main “corporate supporters”.

Nigel McNally, director of Brookfield Drinks, the owner of the lager, said that he had been in advanced discussions with the RSPB about extending their five-year association when he received an email in December saying that it had changed its mind about working with Kestrel after a review of its licensing…

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Bird Sent To Israel From Gaza Wearing A Harness Holding Flammable Material

July 17, 2018 By JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — First kites and balloons, and now birds are being used to by Palestinians in Gaza to set fires in southern Israel.

Israel Nature and Parks Authority personnel on Monday afternoon found a common kestrel, a member of the falcon family, hanging from a burned tree wearing a harness to which was attached a wire wrapped around flammable material.

The bird was discovered after workers put out a fire that had broken out in Habesor National Park.

It is the first time that an animal has been used to ignite fires, according to a statement from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

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Lifting the economy on hawks' wings

Date:  May 15, 2018

Source:  Michigan State University

A new Michigan State University study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology and funded by the National Science Foundation, shows that America's smallest raptor can boost Michigan's -- and other fruit-growing states' -- bottom lines. It's the first study ever to measure regional job creation due to native predators' regulating services.

American kestrels can be found from Alaska to southernmost South America. They dine on bugs, mammals and fruit-eating birds. Growers can attract more of these beneficial birds by building nesting boxes. More kestrels mean fewer pests, and the tiny hawk's mere presence can produce measurable improvements, said Catherine Lindell, MSU integrative biologist and study co-author.

"Having more American kestrels around orchards reduces the number of fruit-eating birds significantly," she said. "It's not just a microeconomic boost that simply benefits the fruit grower, either; it has a macroeconomic effect that benefits the state's economy."

Lindell and her team calculated the benefit-to-cost ratios for building kestrel nest boxes around orchards. The results showed that every dollar spent, $84 to $357 of sweet cherries are saved from fruit-eating birds.

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Kestrel inspires unpowered, autonomous glider to climb higher

Date:December 18, 2015

Source:IOP Publishing

Researchers at the RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia have drawn inspiration from the way kestrels hover above their prey to develop an autonomous fixed-wing micro air vehicle (MAV) that can gain height from convenient updrafts.

The results are published Dec. 18 in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.

"It's long been known the birds take advantage of upward air currents to save energy when flying" explains Alex Fisher, a lead author of the paper. "This 'boost' of upward-moving air can be found when the wind hits a large obstacle, like a cliff or mountain range, and to a smaller extent close to human-made obstacles like buildings."

"We envisage that in the future, MAVs will be used for many tasks in urban environments, such as delivering packages, performing surveillance, and search and rescue" he continues. "Using these updrafts would make them more efficient and therefore extend their working range."

"If you're familiar with the kestrel, you may know they've got a unique way of hunting -- hovering over a location without flapping their wings. This allows them to keep their heads still with incredible precision, helping them spot prey on the ground. The preciseness at which they hold position led us to thinking we could try this 'wind-hovering' technique on our MAV."

The researchers used a commercially available polystyrene foam sail-plane as their test platform.

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Greedy kestrel provides first proof of bird breeding in ancient Egypt

Date: September 3, 2015

Source: Elsevier

Summary: 3D imaging of a mummified kestrel that died due to forced overeating provides evidence that the ancient Egyptians bred birds of prey as offerings for the gods, according to a new study. The digital CT imaging revealed that the kestrel was force-fed its last meal - a mouse - suggesting it was kept in captivity. This is the first evidence to point to mass breeding of raptors as offerings to gods.

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Scotland’s Kestrels in severe decline

Posted on: 13 Sep 2014

As Scotland's Kestrel population plummets, RSPB conservationists have suggested that intensive farming is the cause. 

Between 1995 and 2012, Kestrel numbers decreased by 65 per cent in Scotland, the biggest decline of any monitored bird species in the country, figures from the latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) have shown. The BBS is carried out each year by over 2,800 volunteers across the UK. In Scotland, 471 sites were monitored in 2013, but Kestrels were only observed in around 35 of them.

As a result, RSPB conservationists are carrying out urgent research to help understand why numbers of this iconic species are diminishing so rapidly. Early studies conducted by the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science suggest that intensification of agriculture could be the main reason for the significant drop in numbers. Specifically, preliminary results suggest that Kestrel numbers have fallen at times when there has been a change from spring-sown barley to autumn-sown wheat and oil seed rape.

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Bird proves loyalty to Kes star

BY KATIA HARSTON, CHIEF REPORTER

WEDNESDAY 30TH APRIL 2014

CHRIS Corker's four-year-old kestrel 'Kes' can be temperamental at times and rarely lets him get close enough to touch her without having a peck at him.

In fact the only person who can get near enough to stroke her is Dai Bradley, who played 15-year-old Billy Casper in the 1969 iconic film, Kes, directed by Ken Loach.

Chris worked with Dai after he developed a birds of prey project to help unruly school pupils, which was inspired by the famous film.

Chris, of Meadow Road, Royston, said: "Dai is the only one I have known to be able to stroke her.

"She's a bit funny at the best of times and will not let me near her. She actually actually goes for me. Talk about biting the hand that feeds her."

Dai, 60, was surprised to learn he had the magic touch.

He said: "I didn't know that, it's quite nice to know. I'm pleased.

"I would imagine she's quite psychic and maybe birds have an extra sense like dogs have a wonderful sense of smell and once you have worked with kestrels perhaps they are aware of that and it stays with you.

"You have to be very careful though, I've been pecked by a kestrel before and I know what it's like."

http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/7898/bird-proves-loyalty-to-kes-star

Mauritius Kestrels Show Long-Term Legacy of Human-Made Habitat Change

Date:

February 20, 2014

Source:

Cell Press

Summary:

The widespread loss of forest to sugarcane fields on the island of Mauritius has forced kestrels living there to survive by speeding up their life histories, according to a report. By getting an earlier start, the birds are managing to have just as many offspring, even though they die sooner. Those changes to the kestrels' life history are apparently driven entirely by their early life experiences, the researchers say. The researchers analyzed 23 years of longitudinal data on the Mauritius kestrel to find that females born in territories affected by habitat change shifted investment in reproduction to earlier in life at the expense of late life performance.

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Kestrel chicks rescued from nest robber in Wolverhampton churchyard

Kestrel chicks were rescued by a specialist wildlife police officer from the clutches of a bird poaching suspect who'd taken them from a Wolverhampton church-top nest.

July 2013. Police, who were called to reports of metal thieves attacking the roof of St Mary's Church, Bushbury, were shocked to find not lead but four baby birds of prey stuffed inside a bag in the foot-well of a car parked on site.

Fledged

Wolverhampton response officers had the chicks taken to an RSPCA shelter following the find - in the early hours of June 19 - before locating the nest some 50ft off the ground. With the help of ladders supplied by Green Watch, of Fallings Park Fire Service, officers returned the chicks to their home later that afternoon - and five weeks later PC Chris Watson, who was one of the first officers on the scene, was thrilled to watch the fledged birds fly the nest.

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Turkey clears bird of spying for Israel

The kestrel was discovered by residents of Altinavya, a village in Elazig province, wearing a metallic ring stamped with the words “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel”. Suspicious that the bird may have been on a spying mission for the Jewish state, villagers turned the bird over to local authorities, according to Turkish media.

So great was the level of concern medical personnel at Elazig’s Firat University initially identified the kestrel as “Israeli Spy” in their registration documents. Intensive medical examinations - including X-rays - determined that the bird was, indeed, just a bird. There were no sign of microchips that might transmit information back to Israel, local media reported. The kestrel was allowed to fly off after authorities determined there was no need to press charges.

Yet the incident shows the degree of paranoia and xenophobia regarding Israel that exists among large segments of Turkish society. It comes as talks between Turkey and Israel over compensation for families of those killed in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident have stalled.

Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed on May 31, 2010 when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish vessel carrying aid to the embargoed Gaza Strip.

Ties between the countries suffered until United States President Barack Obama brokered a reconciliation between the two sides during a visit to Israel earlier this year.

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