| June 30, 2008 |
| Retired teachers bands kestrels in Illinois |
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NEW ATHENS (AP) — Tom May is used to having a birds’-eye view of baby kestrels. On a recent Tuesday morning, he needed friend Paul Feldker’s help to reach the opening to the 14-foot-high nesting box in the field near Paul’s Waterloo home. “I hear them,” said May, 73, of New Athens, as he put his ear to the box. He lifted the lid to find five 2-week-old kestrel babies. Kestrels are in the falcon family. As birds of prey, they capture field rodents such as mice with their sharp talons. May, a retired earth science teacher, began banding birds in 2002. He was concerned that the West Nile virus had killed many hawks and falcons, and he wanted to see if the species could once again thrive. He chose kestrels because they are plentiful in southwestern and southern Illinois, have distinctive markings and nest in boxes. Because May likes building bird boxes, he could make homes to attract the kestrels. He learned how to band and keep an accurate log through a course at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He got a state-issued permit to band kestrels and got bands from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He records the birds’ gender and color, and weighs the adults. All information is sent to a national bird banding lab in Maryland. “It’s too early to tell if they’re really making a comeback, but last year was my best year. I banded 41 birds compared to 21 the year before,” said May, who taught at Red Bud High School for more than 30 years. With his bare bands, Tom lifted each baby covered with soft feathery tufts, placed it on its back in a shoebox and closed the vented lid. Feldker lowered him to the ground, and May headed to a shady spot to set up his portable banding lab. He carefully opened the box and picked up a baby kestrel with his left hand. “Take it easy, friend,” said May, to calm the chirping bird. “The adult’s bite can really hurt, but with the little guys, it’s just a pinch.” One of the female babies nipped at the skin between his right index finger and thumb. May doesn’t usually wear gloves. He doesn’t want to squeeze the babies. “You have to contain them in your hand, but you don’t want to put pressure on them,” said May. In the log, he wrote the bird’s gender. He could tell it was a female by the brown wing feathers. Males have blue wing feathers. “You have to wait at least 10 days to tell which is which,” said May. Then he wrote “AMKE,” which means the bird is an American kestrel. In this clutch (eggs that hatch together), there were three females and two males. He watches for the birds year-round, building new boxes, waiting for families to roost and banding babies and adults. Most boxes are 10 inches long, 10 inches wide and 19 inches tall. He has set 35 boxes of his own between New Athens and an area known as Muddy Creek. In early winter, he uses a Chinese-style wire box (bal-chatri trap) to attract and trap the adults in a safe way. May puts field mice in the box. When the kestrel lands on top, its legs become entangled in wires so they can’t move. However, they are not injured. Since 2002, he has banded more than 130 kestrels. He also enjoys banding and observing owls. Though his wife, four children and nine grandchildren haven’t gotten into kestrel watching, May still enjoys it. “If it has feathers, he likes it,” said Feldker.
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