It was Aldo the American Kestrel’s turn for interesting enrichment this week. In the wild, over half of a kestrel’s prey can be insects. They are particularly skilled in catching dragonflies in flight, but also find a variety of grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars. To mimic this part of their diet, I occasionally give Aldo mealworms in addition to his regular diet.
The mealworms seem to be an exciting treat for their novelty, apparent tastiness, and entertainment value. One of the live mealworms this week fell into the textured turf and started to crawl away. I resisted the urge to help, letting him work it out on his own. It was a tense moment as I silently cheered Aldo through multiple attempts to extract the bug. See if he was successful in the video below!
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