The peregrines started the day with sunrise time at 5:06 AM under overcast skies, winds from NE at 6MPH, and temp at 57F.

Scattered showers before 8am. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

At about 6:15 AM, the female landed on the edge of the nest box with freshly caught prey. The oldest of the three chicks grabbed the food and took it for himself.  He guarded the food from the others, and nestled into the cornersDay 33 – ‘the age of the white pantaloons’.  This may happen a day or two earlier or later, but most chicks do go through this phase where they have large fluffs of down conspicuously surrounding their legs, much more prominently than anywhere else on their bodies.

In this photo, the female returned to the nest box with fresh prey, 30 minutes later, and fed all of the chicks, at the same time. Both adults seem to feed mainly on prey separate from that brought in for the young, though they sometimes eat parts of the same item as the nestlings.  Although strongly motivated to feed the young, males play only a minor part in this role, and researchers have noted that they are sometimes driven away by their mates when attempting to do so.  This may be partly the result of the female’s inclination to take the food from the male. There is likely a great deal of variation, at other nest locations, on how much the male is involved in directly feeding the young.

Literature cited:

Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html

Just after sunrise at 5:06 AM, the peregrines chicks started another beautiful morning under fair skies, wind from the SW at 13MPH, and temp at 70F.  The day ahead forecast calls for increasing clouds, with a high near 79. West wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

By day 32, the patches of remaining down feathers are becoming restricted to the base of the legs, parts of the wings, and perhaps parts of the back, as well as the crown.  They are also becoming increasingly vocal and active around the nest area, to the extent that the adults rarely visit except to drop off food for them.

At about 3:46 this afternoon, the female returned to the nest with fresh prey.  The chicks were fed over a 12 minute period before the female hopped back out onto the perch pole, the feeding session completed.  The oldest of the three, has the darkest back and fewest remaining bits of down on its back and elsewhere.  Over the next few days, the wing flapping, and jumping around the box will increase substantially!

The second photo shows the nearest chick ducking low and trying to grab the prey, while the back chick is opening wide for a big bite! The calling for food, by the chicks, increases in strength as the young grow, and this call, develops into a wail similar to the parent’s call; and this call can be heard from quite a distance, perhaps even a mile away. Parental creaking noises on arrival with food, increases as the young mature. In the second half of the overall 40 day nestling period, a youngster consumes quite large amounts of food and its intake eventually exceeds that of an adult of the same sex!

Literature cited:

Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html

The peregrines started the day under fair skies, winds from the SW at 8MPH, and temp at 59F. The forecast for today calls for increasing clouds and scattered showers, mainly after 2pm. The temps high near 77. Southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

By day 31, the chicks often become actively interested in losing their down, preening themselves and sometimes ending up with feathers stuck to their beak as a result.  From the back they are looking increasingly dark, with the wing feathers approaching full length. In this photo, the chick in the back left corner is wing flapping, the others have been preening.  The darker feathers are coming in all over, and the down is decreasing rapidly!

Around this time, a nestling can rip up a prey item quite well, and at 39 days it soon demolishes even intact prey items. At this stage, pray is usually left intact for the young to deal with, though the parent may still break food up into smaller pieces.  There is, however, a considerable overlap between parental and self-feeding, and adults will present young with pieces of torn-up prey until they fledge, especially if nestlings solicit.

Literature cited:

Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html

The peregrines started the day off under fair skies, winds SW at 6MPH, and temp at 56F. The day ahead calls for sunny skies, with a high near 82. Southwest wind 8 to 15 mph.

It’s often around day 30 that the chicks seem to turn into “real” peregrines almost overnight, very rapidly losing much of the down on their breast, thus revealing the heavily streaked breast feathers they will be carrying for the next year. In this photo, one of the chicks is flapping and the darker feather colors, on the wings, back, and tail are very visible!

Feather ruffling with body and head shaking is now marked and increasing time is spent in exercise, notably walking on the feet and wing-flapping.  The young are now better able to eject their droppings out of the nest box. They present their backs to the edge of the nest box, but are careful not to fall out, and have a fairly well developed sense of the gravitational hazard…..but sometimes, it is…….look out below!

Literature cited:

Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html

Sunrise this morning was at 5:07 AM.  The peregrines started the day off with clear skies, wind from NE at 6MPH, and temp at 54F.  The day ahead calls for mostly sunny skies with a few clouds during the day, but slightly cooler compared to the weekend. Wind will be variable and on the light side. Highs near 70.

By day 29, the chicks often have their faces largely free of down, giving them a white-capped appearance.  On their backs, the remaining down often appears to be clumped together in certain areas, with extensive areas instead revealing the dark juvenile feathers, as you see in this photos. The wing and tail feathers are developing strongly and body feathers begin to appear in lines and patches along the back and breast.  Preening becomes a major activity. Note the new leg bands on the female!!

Literature cited:

Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html