When kestrel mum Mrs Kes disappears, she leaves six chicks all alone. Cold and hungry, they will surely die without her. Find out what happens and learn how tough kestrel mums need to be to bring up their babies in the wild.
Watch Mr Kes live on my nest cam: [ Ссылка ] and follow the story of Mr & Mrs Kes in this playlist: [ Ссылка ]
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*ABOUT THIS FILM*
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Female kestrel protecting six chicks
Mrs Kes's six chicks are just a couple of days old and she has her work cut out. Already she has had to fight off barn owls, jackdaws, tawny owls, and even a red kite, to keep them safe.
Feeding the chicks
Meanwhile she must feed her chicks. Kestrel chicks cannot manage big pieces of food so she tears them into small morsels and feeds each chick in turn.
The male provides
While the female kestrel feeds the chicks, the male’s main role is to provide for the family.
But Mrs Kes isn't well
But over the next few days, Mrs Kes doesn’t seem herself. She’s an experienced mother, but now, she’s restless. She is leaving the nest more often than she should and is struggling to sleep.
Night threat
As night falls, Mrs Kes is particularly jumpy. She can hear the tawny owls outside. When one tries to enter the nest, Mrs Kes leaps to defend her chicks.
Unsteady flight
Kestrels can't see in the dark, so after heading out to investigate a sound in the night, Mrs Kes falls on her return. And when the tawny owl living next door, Luna, flies too close to the kestrel nest, she loses her footing again. She clearly isn't as strong or nimble as usual.
Mrs Kes disappears
Ten minutes later, just after midnight, this female kestrel heads out of the nest.
Leaving chicks alone
By morning, Mrs Kes hasn’t returned and the chicks are calling desperately. Mr Kes returns with food and drops a vole on to the nest floor, but has no idea how to feed them. If they don’t eat soon, they’ll die. One of the chicks tries to eat the prey he returns with, but it doesn't know how to break up the food.
Time to intervene
The chicks have been alone for 10 hours and are getting cold. I climb the ladder and carefully open up the nest. It is full of mice, which normally the mother would’ve fed them by now.
Health check
Some of the chicks are really struggling now. Three are too weak to go back into the nest and I place a heat mat in the nest to keep the other three warm. It’s really important, if the female does return, there are chicks in here, otherwise she might abandon this nest.
Hand feeding the chicks
The chicks I brought in are doing well. They've warmed up and are eating hungrily.
Mr Kes tries to brood
When Mr Kes returns he tries to brood the chicks.This is very unusual for a male kestrel.
Next time...
In the next film… watch how Mr Kes steps up to the challenge.
*ABOUT ME*
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.
You may like to purchase my artwork which you can find on my website: [ Ссылка ]. Many of my paintings are portraits of the wonderful characters you watch here!
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*CHAPTERS*
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00:00 Female Kestrel has Six Chicks
00:19 She Must Defend her Nest
00:46 And Feed the Chicks
01:00 Meanwhile the Kestrel Male Provides Food
01:24 Mrs Kes Isn't Herself
02:44 Night Threat
03:52 Mrs Kes Almost Falls
04:53 Mrs Kes Leaves
05:05 Kestrel Chicks Alone
05:38 Male Delivers Food
06:10 One Chick Tries To Eat
06:27 Time to Intervene
07:00 Hand Feeding Kestrel Chicks
07:15 Taking Kestrel Chicks Out of Nest
07:50 Kestrel Chick Health Check
09:23 Hand Feeding Kestrel Chicks
10:12 Mr Kes Returns
10:27 Kestrel Male Tries to Brood
11:00 Next Time: Mr Kes Steps Up To Challenge
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© Robert E Fuller
Copyright Disclaimer: Please feel free to share my videos but do not download any content without permission with the intent to re-upload. If you would like to license any content, please get in touch: mail@robertefuller.com
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