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ECC Kestrel Cams Go Live as Falcons Return to Campus

March 8, 2026 | Campus News

The East Central College Kestrel Cams are live again, offering viewers a chance to watch as American kestrels return to nest boxes on campus.

Two cameras monitor nest boxes installed on Hansen Hall and the Health and Science (HS) Building, allowing viewers to follow activity throughout the nesting season.

The livestream can be viewed on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/@ECCBirds
Select the “Live” tab to watch.

Kevin Dixon, associate professor of biology at ECC, said visits to the nest boxes have already begun.

“There are only occasional visits by the birds right now, but we are hoping nesting activity will begin soon,” Dixon said. “There was a male in the Hansen Hall box recently, and both a male and female have visited the Health Sciences box.”

The nest box project was funded by the ECC Foundation. The livestream was made possible with assistance from Chad Wray, ECC Assistant Network & Systems Manager, who helped establish the YouTube broadcast.

A Dramatic Nesting Season Last Year

Last year’s nesting season drew strong interest from viewers as a pair of kestrels successfully raised chicks in one of the campus nest boxes.

An up close image of biology instructor Kevin Dixon who recently welcomed the World Bird Sanctuary to East Central College, where they worked together to tag young kestrels nesting on campus.
Last year, Biology instructor Kevin Dixon recently welcomed the World Bird Sanctuary to East Central College, where they worked together to tag young kestrels nesting on campus.

The season also included an unexpected twist. Six orphaned kestrel chicks rescued during a demolition project in Kansas City were brought to East Central College by the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park. The chicks were placed in the Health Sciences nest box, where viewers watched closely to see if the adult kestrels would accept them.

Within hours, the female kestrel began feeding the foster chicks as if they were her own.

Earlier in the season, five hatchlings in the Hansen Hall nest were banded by Jeff Meshach, deputy director of the World Bird Sanctuary, along with Dixon. Banding helps researchers track migration, survival rates and population trends for species like the American kestrel.

The project gave students, employees and community members a rare opportunity to watch the nesting process unfold live, from eggs and hatchlings to young birds preparing to leave the nest.

For now, the cameras are rolling and the nest boxes are waiting as ECC’s smallest falcons return to campus for another season.

To read more about last year’s nesting activity, visit:
https://www.eastcentral.edu/blog/more-than-a-mascot-falcons-nest-at-ecc/