June 2010
Lesser Kestrel chicks are strong enough to fly away.
We hope to see them return next year as adults ready to build a nest and bring baby kestrels to the world.
See you at February 2011
April 2010
The Lesser Kestrel rehabilitation project at Alona School received 4 live video cameras, now broadcasting live 24 hours a day from inside nesting boxes. The cameras are in color and shoot at night using infra-red light. The cameras are courtesy of G4S.
For watching the live video please contacts us using the form. A return e-mail will guide you to the live video cameras.
February 2010
This project runs during the lesser kestrel nesting season, from February to April. Alona students prepare for the season starting in December. View our audio slide show where Dr Adiv Gal describes the project and sign-up for our free newsletter to be sure not to miss it when the first birds arrive and settle in the new nesting boxes.
December 2009
Nesting boxes used by the declining populations of Lesser Kestrel falcons for breeding, were built this week and are ready for placement at different locations in the Alona municipality and in the newly renovated Alona school. The boxes are painted white to keep the temperature inside it cool and prevent chicks from getting a heat stroke. Each box has an opening for ventilation and a balcony from which chicks will launch themselves during early flight lessons. The nesting box opening is made to size, allowing easy entry for the falcons and difficult entry for predators who might try to sneak in when the parents are out hunting. Join in the effort to rehabilitate the Lesser Kestrel populations by adopting a nesting couple on WildlifeSaving.org once the birds arrive from Africa in about a month
Every February these birds of prey called Lesser Kestrel, arrive here at Alona, Israel, on their way back from Africa. Male kestrels arrive first, looking for a suitable nesting place. A short time afterwards female falcons arrive. They come here to mate and nest. Some of them will find the best place to start a new family is a nesting boxes made especially for the Kestrels by the Alona Regional School students.
Lesser kestrels are globally threatened, which means their numbers are alarmingly low. Alona, a region council in Israel's north, is one of the largest lesser kestrel nesting areas in Israel. in recent decades nesting areas have been diminished and the kestrels populations is dwindling constantly. For 12 years now, residents of Alona and school children, assisted sponsoring organizations, rehabilitate the lesser kestrel nesting areas.
Students at the Alona Regional School prepare special nesting boxes for the kestrels in the school's facilities. Kestrels also build nests away from the school, in villages in the area. Students keep track of nesting kestrels, conduct research, learn about nature conservation in general and about threatened birds in particular.
