The American Kestrel population is in decline in Maine, with contributing factors including habitat loss, increased competition for resources, and exposure to pesticides. However, the cause of their decline is not fully understood and more information is needed regarding their status and breeding success. The new 2025 Maine State Wildlife Action Plan elevated the status of American Kestrels to a Priority 2 Species of Greatest Conservation Need and the Maine Kestrel Project needs your help to monitor breeding pairs and gather data about kestrels!
The Maine Kestrel Project is a collaborative effort between the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Maine Natural History Observatory, and others. The overall goal of the The Maine Kestrel Project is to better understand the causes of kestrel declines and inform and promote species conservation to reverse these trends. We aim to do this by 1) monitoring kestrel distribution and breeding activity to learn more about their habitat use and inform nest box placement 2) standardizing nest monitoring protocols and data collection for easier comparison and higher rates of kestrel nesting success 3) engaging partners and community scientists to increase kestrel conservation efforts in Maine.
There are a few ways you can contribute to the Maine Kestrel Project on your own or with Maine Audubon and our partners:
If you observe a kestrel not at a known nest site, please share your sighting to the Maine Kestrel Observations form! These observations are essential to help us monitor where kestrels are throughout the state and help determine future placement of nest boxes.
We encourage you to register any nest site, including boxes, natural cavities, or nests in structures (such as barns). Even if your kestrel nest box is unoccupied, that is still valuable information for you to submit. Register your nest site through the Nest Site Registration form and then all future kestrel observations can be submitted through the Nest Site Monitoring form.
If the nest site you registered is a natural nest or a nest in a structure, please email us to receive the project protocol to learn more about the best times to monitor and submit observations to the Nest Site Monitoring form.
We encourage both individuals and organizations/groups to monitor and maintain nest boxes. If you are monitoring a nest box on your own, please email us and we’ll share the project protocol to help ensure best practices for maintaining a nest box and submitting observations to the project. If you are an organization or community group who already has a network of nest boxes or are interested in helping maintain and monitor a group of nest boxes and contribute data to the Maine Kestrel Project, please email conserve@maineaudubon.org.
