Birds

A Bird in the Hand: American Kestrels

July 20, 2012 by Walter 14 Comments


Baby birds are on the brain this week. I recently helped out with an American Kestrel nest box program and got some close encounters with the beautiful baby birds while checking their health and banding the ones who were old enough. Here are a few photos from that lovely day in the hills.


They are slightly too cute to band at this stage of development.


These siblings already have distinct personalities forming… though this may have more to do with the last time each of them were fed.


A young male Kestrel with his feathers growing in nicely.


Falcons are falcons regardless of age. Their feisty temperament and propensity to clamp down on the nearest finger is legendary.


This little guy shows a lot of promise. Here’s to all the baby birds who make it out of babyhood and beyond.

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Baby Bird Week is our celebration of the young, the cute, the adorable, the twee. We certainly spend enough time on adult birds here on 10,000 Birds so we figured it would only make sense to fawn over the fuzzy bundles of fluff that grow up to become the objects of our fascination. Whether you seek out waterfowl, songbirds, or seabirds we will have baby birds to match your obsession.

Baby Bird Week will run from 15-21 July, Sunday until Saturday. Make sure to check back every day or even multiple times a day to keep up with all the baby bird goodness!

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Written by Walter
Walter Kitundu is an artist and designer, instrument builder and bird photographer. As an artist he has created hand built record players powered by the wind and rain, fire and earthquakes, birds, light, and the force of ocean waves. Walter has performed and been in residence at art centers and science museums internationally. He has performed with the renowned Kronos Quartet, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, the electronic music duo Matmos, and the legendary Marshall Allen - in venues from Carnegie Hall to a high school library in Egilstaadir, Iceland. In 2008 Walter became a MacArthur Fellow. Walter loves photographing birds and is an ongoing volunteer with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. He was hooked when a Red-tailed Hawk landed at his side, ate a caterpillar, then refused to leave. He is a Senior Design Developer for the Studio Gallery at the Exploratorium in San Francisco where he designs and builds environments for learning. You can see more of his work on his blog, Bird Light Wind.