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Last update - 02:16 13/06/2008 Students design innovative nesting boxes for lesser kestrel falcons By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: design, nesting boxes  Students in the design department of Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem tackled an unusual challenge this year. One of their teachers, Adiv Gal, asked them to help design a nesting box for the lesser kestrel, a small falcon, because existing boxes are not well insulated from the heat, and this causes the chicks to die. The result was a collection of innovative nesting boxes that will be tested during the next nesting season. Advertisement The nest boxes for lesser kestrels that were put up throughout the Alona Regional Council, east of Binyamina, have become a symbol of efforts to preserve birds that are in danger of extinction. At the initiative of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), and with the help of Israel Electric Corporation cranes, dozens of boxes have been placed on houses. The boxes were put up after the layer of wood under the homes' tile roofs, in which the kestrels used to nest, was replaced by concrete, depriving them of their nesting sites. "We have been putting up nest boxes for 12 years now ¬ about 80 of them each year," said Gal, who coordinates the project. "The kestrels nest in 20 to 30 boxes each year. However, we found out that the boxes have become death traps. They become overheated and there is not enough air in them. The chicks die, or fail to hatch from the eggs." SPNI experts tried to improve the wooden nest boxes by adding openings for air, but this failed to solve the problem. As a result, boxes are no longer put up on buildings that have prolonged exposure to the sun. Then Gal decided to take advantage of the fact that he teaches ecology in Hadassah College's industrial design program. He asked his students to design nest boxes that would solve the problems of heat and lack of air. The students designed several different models of boxes, from various materials. One box was made of the same material from which Ytong aerated concrete is manufactured, as this material is supposed to be a better insulator against heat; the student also drilled numerous holes in it so that air could enter. Another box was made of the fabric that is used for sofas, with the addition of a sawdust filling to improve the insulation. Still others were made of clay and papier mache. "Next year, we will start checking the temperature inside the boxes with thermometers, and I hope we will be able to start using the box that turns out to be most suitable," said Gal. The lesser kestrel population has been suffering in recent years from both a shortage of nesting sites and the disappearance of the natural habitats where it finds its food. Its situation is particularly dire in Jerusalem, but it also seems to be endangered in other areas. For instance, Gal said, the damage to the kestrels' habitat seems to have caused a decline in the number of birds that nest in the Alona area. The birds suffer, among other things, from being preyed on by other animals, such as cats, he explained. The lesser kestrel is one of four species for which nature conservation organizations have set up nest boxes in recent years. There are nest boxes (made of old ammunition crates) for swifts in Tel Aviv and Givatayim, thanks to the initiative of a resident of Givatayim, Amnon Hahn. And there are boxes for barn owls and falcons in the Jordan Valley, as well as several boxes in Tel Aviv. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Gin and Jews American rapper Snoop Dogg slated to perform in Ramat Gan. Late date Scientists revive 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.   1.   the nesting boxes drive away the kestrels 09:10  |  Joe Jew 13/06/08   2.   the kestrels are preyed on by ravens not cats 09:13  |  A thinking Jew 13/06/08

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