Tiny Falcons Cut Food Contamination 66% on Cherry Farms

Cherry farmers in northern Michigan just discovered their secret weapon against food contamination has been hunting overhead all along.

American kestrels, the smallest falcons in North America, are cutting crop damage by 81 percent and reducing bacterial contamination by 66 percent in cherry orchards. The tiny raptors do this simply by hunting and scaring off songbirds that leave droppings on fruit headed to grocery stores.

Researchers at Michigan State University studied 16 sweet cherry orchards in northern Michigan. Half had wooden nesting boxes to attract kestrels, and half didn't.

The difference was dramatic. Orchards with kestrels saw damaged fruit drop from 2.5 percent to just 0.47 percent. Bird droppings on branches fell from 6.88 percent to 2.33 percent.

Those droppings aren't just messy. When researchers tested them, more than 10 percent contained campylobacter, a bacteria that causes serious food poisoning in humans.

"Kestrels are not very expensive to bring into orchards, but they work pretty well at deterring unwanted bird species," said Olivia Smith, the study's lead author and assistant professor of horticulture at Michigan State University. All farmers need to do is add a simple nesting box.

The solution comes at a perfect time. Birds like starlings, robins, and crows cost cherry growers about $85 million annually in top growing states including Michigan, New York, Oregon, Washington, and California. Traditional solutions like nets, noisemakers, and pesticides are expensive and don't always work.

Brad Thatcher has housed kestrels on his organic farm in Washington state for over 13 years. "I've noticed a difference having the kestrels around, hovering over the spring crops," he said. "There's very little fecal damage from small songbirds at that time of year versus the fall."

The Ripple Effect

This partnership between farmers and falcons creates wins that spread far beyond individual orchards. American kestrel populations have been declining by about 1.4 percent annually due to habitat loss and climate change. Every nesting box gives these struggling raptors a safe place to raise their young.

Meanwhile, shoppers get safer fruit without additional pesticides. Farmers save money while protecting their crops. And cherry growers facing challenges from climate change, labor shortages, and international trade pressures finally have an affordable tool that actually works.

The research, published in November in the Journal of Applied Ecology, proves that sometimes the best solutions come from working with nature instead of against it. One small wooden box can attract a hunter that protects entire orchards while helping a species in decline.

Now farmers across the country are taking notice of what their Michigan counterparts have known for decades: the smallest falcon delivers some of the biggest benefits.