Kestrels at Aston University.

Aston University in Birmingham, UK, recently set up a camera streaming live from a kestrel nest in one of their buildings.

Unfortunately, the nest shown on the video is not real, and is merely a digital manipulation controlled by the university's receptionists. The image of the nest itself is a picture of some Cadbury Mini Eggs from a Google image search, whilst the kestrels were created using Microsoft Paint and a freeware animation hack for that programme.

There is a real nest on the campus, but efforts at placing a camera there were in vain as the kestrels attacked the technicians attempting to set it up.

Former Melbourne Kestrel, Shae Bolton.

The picture below is of a lady called Shae Bolton. She used to play for a netball team in Australia called the Melbourne Kestrels. The Melbourne Kestrels have ceased to exist since 2008 following a merge with Melbourne Phoenix. Bolton and some other Kestrels and Phoenix players joined together to form Melbourne Vixens.

The influence of kestrels on the work of Sophocles.

Kestrels were somewhat of an influence on the work of the great Greek tragedian, Sophocles, predominantly in his Theban plays.

The Theban plays deal with the story of Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother, and the circumstances and consequences of those events.

On hearing of the breeding habits of kestrels, where newborn hatchlings may be eaten by their mothers if they are deemed too weak, Sophocles was truly horrified. The Theban plays were his reaction to this information, by telling a story where the mannerisms of kestrels were reversed in the most extreme way.

The Sweaty Kestrel.

The Sweaty Kestrel is the name of a popular cocktail, comprising 50% Buckfast and 50% Lilt. But where did this drink get its name?

The story is set sometime between 1982 and 1984 in a backstreet bar in Liverpool's dockland area called Maguire's, where a young barman called Brian Ainsworth was desperately trying to invent a cocktail. Brian wanted to prove his worth as a barman by creating something that would bring people from all over Liverpool to Maguire's so his boss, James Maguire, would never be able to let him go.

One night during a quiet shift, Brian was experimenting with all sorts of concoctions behind the bar. On eventually tasting a combination of Buckfast and Lilt, he knew he was on to something. An old Scottish sailor had been sitting at the bar all evening. Brian offered the old sailor a sip of his new drink, to which the sailor replied "Ah dinnae ken wha' tae say, o'er than that tastes o' the sweet swea' o' the kes'rel, ye ken". The sailor then got up, left the bar, and was never seen again. Brian and the other customers in Maguire's were confused by the sailor's remarks, but Brian knew the Sweaty Kestrel had just been named.

Maguire's began to market Sweaty Kestrel relatively succesfully, and it became hugely popular throughout Liverpool until the late eighties. Brian went on to become manager, and eventually owner of the bar, until his death in 1994 when his home was burned down whilst he was asleep.

The Sweaty Kestrel also was popular in the town of Skagen in Denmark, the city of Kristiansand in Southern Norway, and Gothenburg in Sweden, and it is believed that these are places the Scottish sailor later visited.

What happens to dead kestrels?

The remains of deceased kestrels have two main uses. Kestrel feathers are molten and used to create artificial plants. Kestrel bones are ground down to a fine powder and used in stock in select exclusive restaurants, particularly for dishes based around game birds.

Harry Potter and the Kestrel.

In J.K. Rowling's initial drafts of what would become Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hedwig was a kestrel. Rowling was inspired to use a kestrel after one of her children was working on a school project about the birds, and was intrigued by the absence of kestrels in children's literature.

Rowling was forced to change Hedwig to an owl by her publishers, who felt the kestrel was not a well enough known bird amongst the first book's target market.

Kestrels in popular music.

Here are some examples of kestrels in popular music:

- A super alternative band who bridge the gap between Ace Bushy Striptease and The Pixies, even though they're from Canada: Kestrels
- Druggy noises from the United Kingdom: dead kestrel
- Badly recorded "progressive" rock from Chicago: Kestrel
- Badly recorded druggy noises from Australia: Us The Kestrels
- Experimental, oh OK, druggy noises, from New Zealand. His third album is called An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover: Peter Wright
- OK grungey rock from the United Kingdom. They have a playlist on their myspace called You Are The Kestrels, We Are The Knaves: Streamline Soldiers