New Jersey birder Emmy Broeg is an American Kestrel champion.

Emmy, who documented her work this summer using social media accounts @emmybebirdin on Instagram and TikTok, volunteered for the “Hatch a 100” project, a community nest-box effort for American Kestrels run by the organization Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (FoHVOS), a local nonprofit in Emmy’s area, which partnered this year with Wild Bird Research Group (WBRG) to expand the reach of the program.

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the ABA Area’s smallest regularly occurring falcon, thriving in open habitats, where it perches on wires and posts to hunt insects, small mammals, and other prey. It nests in tree cavities or nest boxes and plays a vital ecological role in controlling rodent and insect populations. The American Kestrel was the ABA’s first-ever Bird of the Year, in 2011, illustrated by Louise Zemaitis.

The Hatch a 100 project involved biweekly checks with very brief visits to minimize disturbance to any nesting birds. Nest boxes were built in a volunteer session and mounted high on timber poles in open fields. Access isn’t trivial: “The nest boxes are pretty high up and can only be accessed via ladder, lowering like a pendulum or a new pulley system. Ask me about lowering mine… I complained a lot.”

The project ran from March through early August, and all monitored kestrels were banded by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Although the program didn’t reach 100 chicks this season as was hoped for, nest-box occupancy did increase.

But for Emmy, her personal goal was to build awareness and recruitment for the project, and to that end she taught herself how to make and edit reels for social media. “The more we engage the community and spread awareness, the more we can encourage landowners to host nest boxes.”

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New Jersey birder Emmy Broeg assists with banding an American Kestrel chick as part of the “Hatch a 100” conservation project. Image courtesy of Emmy Broeg.

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If you’ve wondered if American Kestrel chicks are cute, well, now you know. Image courtesy of Emmy Broeg.

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Emmy stands by an American Kestrel nest box. Image courtesy of Emmy Broeg.

For those interested in participating in such volunteer projects, Emmy says, you “don’t need to know anything to get started… it’s almost better to start from the beginning and go in with passion and wanting to learn… Ask a million questions.” Just connect with local nonprofits, and be open to failure and learning.

Emmy borrowed cues from favorite creators—music, filters, fonts—and made conservation feel approachable, even joyful. “Conservation work can be really heavy, but it also can be hilarious and hopeful. I’ll keep showing it all!”

Emmy is already thinking about next year: “It will be exciting to see if my kestrel mama returns to the same box next season! I’m really interested to see if her one boy chick ends up somewhere close by as well.”

She’s quick to credit mentors and partners, mentioning her gratitude to Beth Craighead from FoHVOS and Samantha Bean and Sean Graesser from WBRG, plus family: “Ashley Cole-Wick, my sister-in-law… gave me my first pair of hand-me-down binoculars… I owe and dedicate all of this work to her.”

Birders often worry about the state of our birds and wonder how they can help when there are so many threats to birdlife. Emmy’s efforts show how making local connections and spreading knowledge as well as joy is an essential aspect of conservation. The ABA salutes her initiative and dedication.

Frank Izaguirre edits Birding magazine, along with Ted Floyd and Michael Retter. Frank also writes articles for the ABA’s website and creates social media posts for the association’s various social media platforms. With Kelly Smith, Frank co-runs the Bird of the Year Program, which entails working with the Bird of the Year artist and writing articles that promote the Bird of the Year Program and conservation efforts related to the Bird of the Year. Frank also regularly appears on the American Birding Podcast as a guest and occasionally as a guest host. Frank enjoys local birding in bad weather and networking with birders around the world. He also loves looking for salamanders and moths. Frank lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his patch is Schenley Park.