American Kestrel by Kevin Povenz

MyNorth shares that northern Michigan cherry farmers are turning to the tiny American kestrel to protect orchards from pests:

In 2010, Dr. Catherine Lindell, an avian ecologist and associate professor at Michigan State University, began hearing that Michigan fruit farmers struggled to manage the birds that fed on their crops. “Because American kestrels search for already-existing cavities to nest in, it’s possible to lure them to specific places in the landscape, like orchards, by putting up nest boxes,” Lindell explains. A small wooden box, properly placed, can reshape an ecosystem.

In Leelanau County, farmers have installed these nestboxes along the orchard’s edges for more than a decade. The idea is simple: Give this native bird of prey a home, and it will manage the smaller birds, mice and voles that peck and spoil ripening fruit. Cherries define summer in NoMI—from farm stands along M-22 to slices of pie cooling on windowsills. When damage drops, profits rise. Protecting the fruit protects a way of life.

Read on for lots more & it’s always good to see the Michigan Agricultural College making farming better!

Kevin took these photos way back March of 2015 at the Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland. You can see a lot more great photos in his Birds of Prey gallery. For sure follow him on Flickr or at Kevin Povnez Photos on Facebook for the latest!

PS: If you want to learn more about the American Kestrel aka the Sparrowhawk, there’s a Michpics post featuring another of Kevin’s fantastic photos!