Nongame Bird Blog

Over the weekend, our American Kestrel eggs started hatching, which is right on time if since they eggs were laid almost exactly a month ago.  This Monday morning, it appears three of the eggs have hatched.  The other two, if they are going to hatch, should emerge in the near future. The streaming video inside the kestrel nestbox can be accessed HERE.  I have heard the video is not coming up for everyone.  If you are having trouble, my advice …

Electric utilities and wildlife agencies are entities that you may not immediately think of as cooperators in conservation, particularly if you’ve closely followed the news as of late.  Even though both types of entities have their different roles and objectives, there are opportunities to work together.  Most electric utilities, such as those of the Nebraska Rural Electric Association, work proactively to avoid and reduce the risk of collision and electrocution posed to birds by power lines and other electrical infrastructure.  These efforts are done …

I had the privilege to participate in and be part of the Nebraska Prairie Chicken Festival this past weekend.  This is the fourth year of this festival, but the first year I attended.  I had high expectations going in since the festival is an event organized and hosted by Calamus Outfitters, but my expectations were exceeded in a number of ways.  This was a top-notch affair with great birding and scenery that included morning trips to see lekking Greater Prairie-Chickens and …

The fourth Peregrine Falcon egg was not a major surprise.  It arrived on Tuesday evening. Four eggs is good enough for me and it seems like a manageable number.   Will there be a fifth?  Or even a sixth? It seems possible given our pair’s history, so stayed tuned.   If you are looking for our LIVE streaming video, please click HERE.  If you would like to join a Facebook fan group about the the Capitol’s Peregrine Falcons, please click …

As children were searching for Easter eggs, the Capitol’s Peregrine Falcons found their own.  Egg #3 arrived sometime on Sunday. It is the point in the egg-laying process to wonder how many eggs makes this clutch complete.   As prolific as our birds have been in recent years, I would suspect they will lay at least one more; time will tell.  If you are looking for our LIVE streaming video from the 18th Floor of the Nebraska Capitol, please click …

Even though it arrived a little later than expected, Peregrine Falcon egg #2 was present in the nest box Friday morning. Expect a third egg to magically appear late Saturday or early Sunday.  If you are looking for our live streaming video from the 18th floor of the Nebraska Capitol, please click HERE .  If your interested in joining a Facebook group focused on the Capitol Peregrine Falcons created by falcon followers, you can find that HERE*. *Note:  For the sake …

Contributed by Lauren Dinan, Nongame Bird Biologist Spring is here, which means Bald Eagles are hunkered down on eggs waiting for them to hatch. This also means we have been out checking eagle nests to determine which nests are active.  Bald Eagle nest monitoring is annual project of the Nongame Bird Program in Nebraska, but we do not do this alone. We mentioned in a previous post about a record of 111 active nests recorded in Nebraska in 2014.  With a large and …

The Peregrine Falcons at the Capitol just welcomed there first eggs on Tuesday afternoon (March 31).  This is no April fool’s day joke because it is not April quite yet.  A screenshot is provided below. Expect another egg in about 36-48 hours.   To watch our live streaming video of the Peregrine Falcons, click HERE.

This morning Brett Daugherty, Troy Kroger and I ventured up to the 18th floor of the Capitol.  One reason was to take a look at the cameras (Troy is our IT guy).  As some have already noticed, Troy fiddled with the view of one the cameras.  The second reason was to take some photos of the two falcons to hopefully capture band combinations so the birds could be identified.  Confirming the identity of the male this year is a bit intriguing compared …

It is spring and in the spring a young kestrel’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.   In this case, the love has happened a little earlier than expected.  Many know we (NGPC) have live streaming video coming from our kestrel nestbox that sits on the north wall of our headquarters building in Lincoln. The American Kestrels have already laid two eggs as of 26 March, which is the earliest I can remember them getting started with this springtime ritual.  Expect a …