Kestrel was not a common birds’ species in Lithuania before the start of the project – the population was counted as 150-300 breeding pairs. It’s planned during the project implementation to install 500 nesting boxes, out of which 445 are already in place.

The nests were checked from mid of June until early August. Some nests were checked even twice as the breeding season this year was quite late. Out of 445 nests 71 were occupied by the Kestrels, 65 pairs successfully breed (14,6% out of erected nesting boxes). In total 193 offspring were counted with an increase of 84 individuals comparing with the last year.

The biggest surprise was very high occupation rate at the Seaside and in Dzukija region. 39 pairs were breeding in Klaipeda region with an increase of 20 pairs comparing with the last year. In Alytus an increase of 60 % is registered, which makes 12 nests in total. In the suburbs of Kaunas city 5 nests were occupied, while in the capital Vilnius the same number (4) remain. This trend shows that species is occupying new territories and the peak shall be reached in 4-5 year after the erection of the nesting boxes. However, an increase of population by 30 % in the three years period is a great success for the project.

The map of nesting boxes and occupied nests can be found on http://corpi.lt/data/lizdai/