Intense Wildlife Battle: Rat vs. Lesser Kestrel Mom Protecting Her Babies

Rats are opportunistic feeders who eat almost anything they can find, including bird eggs. Raptors, such as this female lesser kestrel, will protect their nests from potential threats, even sometimes to the death. They are known to vigorously defend their young, using their sharp talons and beaks to fend off intruders. Luckily, the female kestrel was able to scare it away in the bed. These videos are meant to document the lives of wild falcons and other birds in order that we can learn more for both educational & research purposes and serve as an aid for the species conservation effort. We do not set up/ stage or intervene. All the videos in this stream are documenting wild lesser kestrels. Click here to watch Live: Please subscribe to our channel: 2023 Female 642 was released as a fledgling from Ramat Hanadiv in female 559- unknown but was seen in 2022 Clutch 1st egg: March 25, 2023 2nd egg: March 27, 2023 ________________________________________________________________ 2022 Clutch 1st egg: April 12, 2022 2nd egg: April 14, 2022 3rd egg: April 16, 2022 4th egg: April 18, 2022 Nestlings hatched: First three nestlings= May 11, 2022 4th nestling: May13, 2022 2 fledged: Nestlings rings (blue 337 and Blue 341) The male kestrel (360) and unringed female kestrel bred inside, but other females (584 and 559) wanted the box and already fought with in two severe bouts. Click here to see the fights between the female with intruders: 1. 1st fight 583 vs 584: 2. 2nd fight 583 vs 559 3. Then the male fights a female kestrel: רמת הנדיב משתתפת במאמצים לאישוש האוכלוסיה של הבזים האדומים בישראל מאז 2006. במסגרת פעילות זו, מגיעים לטיפול ברמת הנדיב בזים רבים מדי שנה – מרביתם פרחונים וגוזלים שנפלו מהקן ומיעוטם בוגרים שנפצעו. לאחר טיפול ואקלום, משוחררים בכל שנה כ-50 בזים צעירים, כשעל רגליהם טבעות זיהוי ממתכת ומפלסטיק. לפני שנה החל קינון של זוג בזים אדומים בתיבת קינון ברמת הנדיב. הזכר היה פרט ששוחרר ברמת הנדיב והנקבה הייתה ללא טבעות. הקינון הסתיים בצורה טראגית, כאשר מיינות טרפו את 4 הביצים שהיו בתיבה, והרגו את הבזה. השנה שוב הופיע זוג בזים אדומים, שזהותו אינה ידועה עדיין, על הכלוב, והחל לישון בתיבה. אנחנו מקווים שהשידור הישיר מהתיבה יאפשר לנו לשמור טוב יותר על הבזים, וכמובן שהקינון יצליח. מצלמת הותקנה ומתוחזקת על-ידי ציפורים אונליין קבוצת צ’רטר\ קבוצת צ’רטר לחקר אקולוגית חיות-הבר’ (מכון שמיר למחקר והחוג לגיאוגרפיה ולימודי סביבה באוניברסיטת חיפה) ומומנה על-ידי תורם אנונימי. Since 2006, Ramat Hanadiv has been participating in efforts to rehabilitate lesser kestrels in Israel. As part of this activity, many lesser kestrels arrive to Ramat Hanadiv yearly - most of them as fledglings and nestlings that fell from nest and some were injured adults. After treatment and acclimatization, around 50 kestrel are ringed with standard aluminum and a plastic color rings are released back to nature from Ramat Hanadiv. In 2020, a wild pair of lesser falcons (The male was ringed) started breeding (laid eggs) in a nesting box but the nesting attempt ended tragically, when invasive common mynas killed the female and ate the 4 eggs. This year another pair of lesser kestrels have started to visit the nest box. We hope that the online camera will allow us to better keep track the kestrels breeding in hope that this year they will succeed. In 2021 the pair returned, laid 5 eggs and successfully fledged 2 young. The camera was added and maintained by the Charter Group Birdcams/ Charter Group of Wildlife Ecology (The Shamir Research Institute and the Department of Geography and Environmental Science of the University of Haifa) and funded by a private donor. #Live #lesserkestrel #birdcams #Chartergroup #RamatHanadiv #live #kestrel #webcams #birds #wildlife #nature #nowplaying #Israel #UniversityofHaifa #MottCharter