As I checked the week's weather forecast, I felt a shiver as I noticed a few nights predicted to get into the single digits. That meant that I had to dust off Aldo's indoor perches so he could spend the coldest nights inside the Museum.
American Kestrels in northern Wisconsin normally migrate south for the winter. It is not the cold temperatures that spur them south. Since insects - one of their major food sources - are no longer active and kestrels' small talons are not designed for crashing through snow drifts to reach rodents, their migration is driven by their stomachs.
Aldo has a reliable supply of food at the Museum so he is quite comfortable riding out most of the winter in his mew. Once temperatures get below 20 degrees F, we turn on a heater inside his nest box so he has a space to warm up if he needs to. But in colder temperatures, he risks frostbite and his metabolism will have a harder time keeping his small body warm. His cutoff point is 10 degrees F, so single or negative digits mean that he gets to come inside.
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