I have 3 kestrels, two AK's and a EK, male, yes, it is really hard to keep a tail on those guys. I've found the best way to preserve the tail is blocking them out with a 2nd perch to hop to.
My equipment is this: Size 00 grommet, thin kangaroo anklets, the jesses are a single piece of knotted, melted, para cord, about 4 inches long. The end of the jess where the swivel attaches is a melted hole (made with a large, heated blanket pin) where a Coastlock Sampo, size 5 or 6 attaches the clip through the hole. Kestrels are equipment pickers, so I paint all of their equipment with NOBITE nail polish. Really keeps the picking down. I use a size 00 vice grip pliers setter I got from Northwoods a long time ago. They also wear a tiny merlin bell and small ID tag on one leg, attached with a cable tie. The cable tie is inserted into a piece of plastic tubing to keep the cable tie from being pulled tight, again painted with NOBITE nail polish.
