Kestrel v Jackdaw: Long Fight for Nest Site | Apollo & Athena | Robert E Fuller

Kestrels Apollo & Athena are a formidable force. Together they fight off multiple jackdaw attacks to hold on to their favourite nest site.

Date filmed: Jan - April 2024

Watch kestrels Apollo & Athena interact live on my nest cam:    • Live From Ash Wood | Robert E Fuller  ] and follow their story in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

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ABOUT THIS FILM
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Kestrel pair
Kestrels Apollo & Athena are preparing for their 4th breeding season at their favourite nest site, Ash Hollow. Nest sites can deteriorate in a year, and so the pair return to inspect it in January.

Competition
But jackdaws are also interested in the site and when Apollo lands at the entrance a jackdaw drags him from the nest.

Jackdaws
Like birds of prey, corvids are cavity nesters. But unlike raptors, they build their nests out of sticks and therefore have a wider range of options. As the breeding season approaches, pairs scout out many nest sites all at once and often bring sticks into a number of sites.

Colonising nests
But once nests are filled with sticks, other birds can’t remove them. Sometimes they block early breeding birds, like tawny owls, into their nests.

Box designed for kestrels
I custom-built this box for this kestrel pair, in an attempt to boost populations here. One of four bird of prey boxes, it is the maximum this site can accommodate without risking overpopulating the area. Meanwhile the jackdaws have multiple options throughout the woodland.

Jackdaws vs birds of prey
Jackdaws are known to damage crops and livestock, but their effect on birds of prey is less well recorded. Since 1970, the jackdaw population has more than doubled, with 1.6 million breeding pairs of across the UK. Meanwhile, kestrel populations have declined from around 100,000 breeding pairs to just 30,000 today.

Fights for nest sites
Jackdaws are highly sociable and often form groups that roost and feed together over a large territory. When it comes to fighting for sites, they work together.

Kestrels teamwork
But although this kestrel pair also apply teamwork, there are only two. As Athena goes to evict one jackdaw, another attacks her from behind. The jackdaws are persistent and the battles continue right through the breeding season. But the kestrels have their hearts set on this nest and, despite the constant fights, their courtship continues.

Kestrel courtship
Food passes are an important next stage, signalling that the male can provide for the female and their future chicks. Apollo & Athena have been together for over three years now, but no stage of courtship can be skipped - and the pair have the added pressure of having to perform under the mocking audience of jackdaws.

Brutal bird battles
By May, these bird battles intensify and the kestrels are only just holding their own. Jackdaws are much bigger than kestrels and twice jackdaws pin Athena or Apollo to the nest floor in increasingly vicious fights.

Kestrel Athena's final, formidable fight
Then the day before Athena is due to lay her first egg, a jackdaw enters her nest and she, with the support of Apollo, gives the fight of her life.

Athena's first egg
The next morning, visibly shaken and showing battle scars, Athena lay's her first egg. Even then she must fight off a jackdaw intruder.

This kestrel couple have demonstrated remarkable courage in their fight for this nest site. But the breeding season has only just begun Subscribe to my channel to follow their story.

ABOUT ME
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A British wildlife artist and filmmaker, I'm on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. View my artwork: https://www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the characters you watch here!

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CHAPTERS
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00:00 Introducing kestrel pair
00:37 Nest inspection
01:48 Jackdaw attack
02:06 Competition for sites
02:58 Jackdaws v birds of prey
03:36 Kestrel team
05:11 Jackdaws dominate nest sites
05:35 Kestrel courtship continues
06:59 Apollo v jackdaw
07:55 Athena v jackdaw
10:06 Brutal bird battle
10:40 Athena scarred
11:22 Jackdaws intrude as egg is laid


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© Robert E Fuller

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