Kestrel Cam at the Great Salt Lake

Last updated May 28, 2024

A closeup of a kestrel, a small bird of prey with a curved beak, blue-grey head and brown, white and black striped breast.

Every spring, thousands of nature lovers watch kestrel chicks grow up in real time alongside their harried parents thanks to the live cam mounted on a nest box at The Nature Conservancy’s Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve in Utah.

2024’s five kestrel chicks have fledged and are now hunting, soaring, roosting and hovering at the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve.

While you wait for the next big moment in the kestrel nest, check out the 2023 recap video below.

Kestrel Nest Cam 2023 Recap (0:50) On May 17, 2023, the first of five hatchlings came into the world in a nest box at The Nature Conservancy’s Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve in Utah. Watch these chicks grow up in our 2023 recap video!

We Can’t Protect Kestrels Without You

Your Email Address

Please provide a valid email address

You’ve already signed up with this email address. To review your email preferences, please visit nature.org/emailpreferences

We may have detected a typo. Please enter a valid email address (formatted as name@company.com). Did you mean to type ?

We are sorry, but there was a problem processing the reCAPTCHA response. Please contact us at webmaster@tnc.org or try again later.

Have Some Avian Family Fun!

Take a moment to learn more about these colorful raptors and find out why scientists are concerned about this species. You can use the activities and resources below to learn more about American kestrels and the habitats they, and many other birds, need to thrive.

Blog Posts

Read an exciting story of Life, Death and Bird Cam Drama for the kestrels at the Great Salt Lake Shoreland Preserve.
The Making of a Falcon? Follow kestrel chicks from egg to flight in this informative blog post.

Learn the basics about these amazing raptors from HawkWatch International.
Ten million birds rely upon the lake’s waters, wetlands and uplands each year, including American kestrels. How much do you know about Utah’s inland sea? Take the quiz!
You can listen at the preserve or online! Why do kestrels nest here? This tour offers facts and stories about the preserve’s wildlife and habitats, including the uplands that are vital to kestrels.

Help Protect Migratory Birds at the Great Salt Lake

Support our work in Utah, including the preservation of migratory bird habitat at the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve, by making a charitable contribution today.

Donate

Landscape view of a long boardwalk through a marsh that ends in a covered pavilion.

The Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve

The Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve provides visitors with more than a mile of boardwalk and access to the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake—important habitat for more than 250 species of birds.

Aerial view of a brine shrimp boat and its nets.

Will We Save the Great Salt Lake?

This three-part series gives visitors the in-depth story behind the Great Salt Lake and its increasingly urgent plight.

An American kestrel flies through the air, with its wings pointed down toward the ground.

Life, Death & Bird Cam Drama at the Great Salt Lake

The American kestrel makes for a good reality TV star—charismatic and colorful. Catch up on the kestrel cam story and this year's nesting family.

Kestrel Cam at the Great Salt Lake