This box at Foothills Land Conservancy headquarters at the Andy Harris Farm is one of several that have been placed in Blount County and beyond as part of the Farmland Raptor Project. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
The American kestrels (Falco sparverius) had been rehabbed as abandoned fledglings at Happinest in Signal Mountain, and were now part of an emerging program to reintroduce raptors to farmland and private woodlands in cooperation with property owners.
“It’s a natural partnership,” Eustace said of the conservancy’s work with the Farmland Raptor Project. The Blount County-based conservancy has preserved, via conservation easements and outright donations, more than 200,000 acres throughout the Southeast since 1985.
Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Katheryn Albrecht is spearheading this “passion project” of MTM Environmental, which offers services such as biological assays and counseling on easement protection and other issues. The goal is to distribute at least 50 nesting boxes to a variety of agencies or property owners.
Seven of 11 currently available nesting boxes are deployed as part of the overall kestrel project, including at Seven Islands State Birding Park, and four installed along the Springbrook section of the Alcoa-Maryville Greenway.
One other significant property in Wildwood also hosts a nesting box. Albrect and others are establishing protocols on long-term, and perhaps live, nest monitoring. The birds released on this day will likely not set up in the available box, as nesting season is over, and will instead roost in its preferred tree cavities and snags. Other potential species of interest to the project include owls and harriers.
Along with the boxes and the birds — as available for release in partnership with wildlife rehabilitators — project participants receive guidelines on promoting raptor habitat, such as adjusting mowing habits and refraining from some chemical use.
“That’s the big goal,” Albrecht said. “To increase habitat, and improve habitat management activities.”
Such improvements also help populations of grassland birds, which are in decline, said FLC senior biologist Shelby Sanders. “It helps to (have) the charismatic, cute little falcon that gets everyone interested.”
Get involved:
For more information on the Farmland Raptor Project, email Katheryn Albrecht at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..