American Kestrels are small falcons that inhabit wide-open fields in Virginia. Kestrels have declined by 73% in the Piedmont of the eastern United States since 1966. Habitat degradation, insecticides (killing prey), rodenticides (toxic to kestrels), mortality during migration, and low fledgling survival may all be contributing to the decline. But the relative importance of these diverse factors is poorly known. The Northern Virginia Piedmont Kestrel Project was started in 2021 to study what’s behind the decline in our area and to learn what landowners can do to help!

Bert Harris, Ph.D is co-Director at The Clifton Institute where he directs a program of ecological research that has the goal of providing actionable recommendations to landowners. He is also a passionate land manager and he works with his team to restore native plant and animal communities on The Clifton 900 acre property. He has a long-standing interest in the ecology and conservation of forests and grasslands in the Eastern United States. He has a background in research on the effects of the wildlife trade, climate change, and habitat loss on tropical birds. He has a B.S. in Ecology and Biodiversity, Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a postdoctoral fellowship.

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