PLAINFIELD TWP., Pa. — For two decades, Kevin Kelly has made a home for birds at Grand Central Landfill.
“Most wouldn’t believe that a landfill could be a beautiful habitat,” said Kelly, Waste Management’s wastewater treatment plant technician.
“But with hundreds of grassland acres, it’s a wonderful location for the birds to hunt and ultimately nest.”
That tradition continued earlier this week as Waste Management officials led an American kestrel event, attaching numbered bracelets to three young birds who have made the landfill their home.
Our partners are spectacular and together we are working for a more sustainable tomorrow.Adrienne Fors, senior community relations specialist for WM’s greater mid-Atlantic region.
The species, known as North America’s smallest falcon, is threatened because of habitat loss and other factors, but the project provides invaluable information to researchers and bird enthusiasts.
This summer, including Monday's event, eight kestrels were banded, said Adrienne Fors, senior community relations specialist for Waste Management’s greater mid-Atlantic region.
“We take great pride in the conservation work implemented here at the facility,” Fors said. “However, it wouldn’t be possible without the support of our team and the guidance of our wildlife experts in the community.
“Our partners are spectacular and together we are working for a more sustainable tomorrow.”
‘The kestrel is declining’
Kestrels are about the size of a blue jay and nest in cavities, including holes in trees and boxes, officials said.
Unlike other falcons, kestrels capture their prey — small birds, rodents, reptiles and insects — on the ground, preferring a grassland habitat where they can hover over meadow areas and hunt.
“Formerly one of our most plentiful birds of prey, the kestrel is declining across portions of its range, sometimes in devastating numbers.”The National Audobon Society
Populations of kestrels, also called sparrow hawks, have been declining for years, with researchers pointing to habitat loss and pesticide use as contributing factors.
“Formerly one of our most plentiful birds of prey, the kestrel is declining across portions of its range, sometimes in devastating numbers,” according to The National Audubon Society.
“In recent decades, more than 90 percent of kestrels have disappeared from New England's pastoral landscapes.
“These rates of decline are on par with the painful losses suffered by the kestrel’s larger cousin, the peregrine falcon, in the decades following World War II.”
Kestrels are among the birds of prey known to migrate across the Lehigh Valley’s raptor superhighway each year. Next month, Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual autumn Bake Oven Knob Hawk Watch will begin.
As with the kestrel banding event, the hawk watch is a conservation effort aimed at bolstering threatened raptor populations.
‘More than 150’
Just a few years after adding bluebird boxes to the landfill’s property in 2004, Kelly met Paul H. Karner, a federal bird bander.
Karner since the 1970s had erected American kestrel boxes around Northampton County and monitored the birds by placing bird bands on their legs.
“Over the last 15 years, the WM team and Paul Karner have banded more than 150 American kestrels at the landfill — several of which have returned years following their banding.”Birding officials
Karner, who also raised and tagged monarch butterflies, died in March 2023 at age 76.
The bands act as a sort of birth certificate, with the information on the band reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory. If the bird is ever found or captured, the band number can be reported, and from that scientists are able to gather information on the behavior of the birds.
“Grand Central Landfill has incorporated the banding events into their habitat programs since 2007 and has earned a gold certification with the Wildlife Habitat Council, the highest achievement from the non-profit organization,” officials said.
“Over the last 15 years, the WM team and Paul Karner have banded more than 150 American kestrels at the landfill — several of which have returned years following their banding.”
During a banding event last year,five kestrels – four male and one female – were recorded.
Residents can go to the Grand Central Landfill and Hauling Facebook page for future events.
