Recovering the Southeastern American Kestrel by Dr. Ken Meyer

The American Kestrel breeds in open habitats across our continent. Unfortunately, its population has declined by 82% since the 1970s. This includes the nonmigratory genetically distinct subspecies known as the Southeastern American Kestrel (SEAK), which is listed as Threatened by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Causes of this species’ decline include elimination of dead trees and the nest cavities they provide. Orange Audubon's presenter is Dr. Ken Meyer of the Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) in Gainesville. ARCI is studying nesting success in natural cavities vs nest boxes, nest predators and predation rates, parental feeding rates, first-year survival rates and dispersal, home range areas, landscape habitat relationships, and the best strategies for deploying and maintaining nest boxes to promote increased reproductive success. This is a perfect presentation for us, since Orange Audubon is working on restoration of an upland habitat (the Apopka Birding Park) which could provide kestrel nesting habitat. Ken Meyer Short Bio From 1987 -- when he received his Ph.D from University of North Carolina -- until 1996, Ken studied imperiled birds as a post-doctoral and then as a research associate in the University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. He was a research biologist with the National Park Service and since 1996, he has served as an adjunct Associate Professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. Ken co-founded Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) in Gainesville, Florida, in 1997. Since then, he has held the positions of Research Ecologist and Executive Director at ARCI. In the course of conducting 40 years of field research and producing management and conservation plans, Meyer and his team have studied the behavior and ecology of 16 species of birds of conservation concern in eastern North America and the Caribbean. ARCI is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Website is https://www.arcinst.org. Ken can be reached at [email protected]. 30 people live. Kestrel with prey photo courtesy ARCI.