KCPL Kids - Providing Homes and Hunting Grounds for Birds of Prey

Providing Homes and Hunting Grounds to Birds of Prey

Raptors -- birds of prey -- once were a common sight on the Midwestern plains. Changes in habitat, growing density of population and declining numbers of nesting spots turned these glorious birds into a rare sight in the Kansas City area.

KCPL actively works to restore habitats for several types of raptors. Working with the Missouri Department of Conservation and Commerce Bancshares of North America, we sponsored the release of 24 young peregrine falcons in downtown Kansas City in 1991 and 1992. An endangered species, the peregrine falcons spread from Kansas City to nest in Des Moines, Iowa, Topeka, Kan., and other cities throughout the Midwest.

The peregrine falcon reintroduction was labeled a success in 1997, with the first natural nest in downtown Kansas City. Two young peregrine falcons successfully flew from their nest atop the Commerce Tower Building. The success came again in 1998, with the adult falcons returning to the same nest. In July 1998, three young peregrines took their first flight over the downtown area. Peregrine falcons from this release have been found as far away as Omaha, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa.

The peregrines are once again nesting on the Commerce Tower building and will remain in the area until early August. The young will begin flying around the first of June and will be active throughout the downtown area. The adults are currently busy on the north side of the downtown area and will also be flying with the young when they fledge.

Due to urban releases like those sponsored by KCPL, peregrine falcons now have been reclassified as a threatened -- rather than an endangered -- species.

Young Kestrel

We also installed nesting boxes for kestrels, the smallest falcons, at several of our facilities. Since 1996, many young kestrels have called these boxes home. As the kestrels' natural nesting sites in the cavities of trees disappear, these nesting boxes have become a critical means of maintaining kestrel populations. The kestrels provide a natural biological control over pest species that interfere with the cooling process of the transformers at substations. Substations with nesting kestrels have fewer English sparrows and European starlings, which nest in large numbers in the transformers and can cause power outages. Having the kestrels there helps us maintain our high level of reliable service.

In 1997, when the Missouri Department of Conservation needed a controlled and safe site to Young Osprey release ospreys, they chose KCPL's Montrose Generating Station in Henry County, Mo. The release of four young birds in 1997 and five more in 1998 will help bring the osprey, or fish eagle, back to our area. In a cooperative project with the Missouri Department of Conservation, KCPL helped the osprey by building them the ultimate birdhouse on a large utility pole. Montrose offers a controlled environment for the Osprey nest osprey so human visitors won't interfere in the delicate time after the chicks are hatched, when they are most vulnerable. Osprey are fish-eating birds, so the lake's proximity also offers an advantage to having the nesting structures located at Montrose.

And if you want to see eagles, the grandest raptor of all, visit the lakes and rivers surrounding our power plants. The warm water found there draws some of the largest concentrations of wintering bald eagles in the area.

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