Support the Harris Center’s “Kestrels”
In recent years, the Harris Center “Kestrels” birding team has competed for (and won!) the top prize in Mass Audubon’s Superbowl of Birding — a friendly competition to see which teams can find the most bird species across coastal Massachusetts and New Hampshire in a single day.
One of the 21 kestrel chicks that hatched in 2025 as the result of our kestrel conservation efforts (photo © Brett Amy Thelen)
Along with these accolades, the Harris Center was also successful in raising much-needed funds for our growing American Kestrel Conservation Project, which is working to bring kestrels back to the open fields where they were once common.
Today, we manage 50 nest boxes across 20 towns and are learning a great deal about this charismatic little falcon, including where populations are thriving and what local threats they face. This growing body of knowledge makes your support especially critical right now.
In 2026, with a new partner (Birding University) on board, the Birding University–Harris Center Kestrels team returns to the Superbowl of Birding ready to defend its title and, more importantly, shine a renewed spotlight on the Kestrel Project. This year, our kestrel conservation work will focus on refining nest box placement, installing up to five new boxes on high-priority private lands, expanding testing for rodenticides and other toxins in banded birds, and strengthening monitoring efforts through new technologies like transmitters. We hope to make kestrels more accessible to everyone through the use of improved camera and video technology, too.
This year’s bird-finding force includes Harris Center staff and friends Phil Brown (Bird Conservation Director), Nate Marchessault (Ecologist), Katrina Fenton (former Raptor Biologist), Steven Lamonde (Board Member and Conservation Research Committee Chair), and Will Stollsteimer (former Bird Conservation Intern).
Your gift helps turn research into action — protecting kestrels and the open landscapes they depend on. Thank you for helping kestrels soar!
