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Lawrence Peregrines: even more scraping!!

March 28, 2018 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0328-001Another beautiful morning with a few clouds, winds SE 3MPH, and temp around 37F.  The female continues to leave the nest box for a while and then return; again she enters the nest box and repeats the process of laying out horizontally and pushing the gravel around.  This helps her to fashion the nest bowl to her liking and is all part of the preparing for egg laying!

SCRAPING: Either bird can do this. The falcon runs its breast through the substrate or nest depression, pushing out with its legs behind. The bird is forming the nest cup (scrape), but this is also part of courtship. Scrapes may be made at several potential ledges before one is finally chosen for laying.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

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Lawrence Peregrines: copulation

March 27, 2018 in lawrence peregrines, Near the Clock Tower, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

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Made a pass by the Ayer Mill Clock Tower while heading to Industrial Way to observe the winter crow roost.  Skies were overcast, winds were E at 7MPH, and temps in mid-forties.  The male was in the nest box and then hopped out onto the wooden perch pole.  The female arrived and landed on the SW corner of the New Balance building at 200 Merrimack Street.  She cleaned her bill and then made a few soft calls to the nearby male.  He swooped off of the perch pole and landed atop the female with talons carefully tucked in.

During copulation the female is pitched forward,making an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the perch The copulation wail is given throughout.  As the male mounts,the female spreads her wings out at the elbow about one-fourth open. The tail, up and to the side, may be partly spread.

 

_W7I4933-001The male flaps his wings throughout copulation, maintaining an upright posture with the neck extended and bent in a curve. Usually the male gives one or two bursts of the Chitter vocalization just before,during,and/or just after mounting and then Eechips sporadically. Some individuals give bursts of Chitter throughout.

Toward the end of copulation the male stops his tail movements pressing his cloaca against the female’s.  Rapid wing-beats accompany this tail-press.  The female may spread her tail partly at this time,and the male departs with a Hitched-Wing Display directly afterwards.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

Wrege, P. H. and T. J. Cade. 1977. Courtship behavior of large falcons in captivity. Raptor Res. no. 11:1-46.

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Lawrence Peregrines: more scraping!!

March 27, 2018 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0327-001Another beautiful morning with clear skies, bright sun, little wind, and temp around 24F.  The female continues to leave the nest box for a while and then return; again she enters the nest box and repeats the process of laying out horizontally and pushing the gravel around.  This helps her to fashion the nest bowl to her liking and is all part of the preparing for egg laying!

SCRAPING: Either bird can do this. The falcon runs its breast through the substrate or nest depression, pushing out with its legs behind. The bird is forming the nest cup (scrape), but this is also part of courtship. Scrapes may be made at several potential ledges before one is finally chosen for laying.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

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Lawrence Peregrines: nest scraping

March 26, 2018 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0326-001Another beautiful morning with clear skies, bright sun, winds N 12MPH, and temp around 30F.  The female continues to leave the nest box for a while and then return; again she enters the nest box and repeats the process of laying out horizontally and pushing the gravel around.  This helps her to fashion the nest bowl to her liking and is all part of the preparing for egg laying!

SCRAPING: Either bird can do this. The falcon runs its breast through the substrate or nest depression, pushing out with its legs behind. The bird is forming the nest cup (scrape), but this is also part of courtship. Scrapes may be made at several potential ledges before one is finally chosen for laying.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

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Lawrence Peregrines: mutual ledge display

March 25, 2018 in In the Nest Box, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0325.2-001Observing the peregrines through the New Balance Falcon Cam under mostly cloudy skies, wind from NW at 17MPH with stronger gusts, and temp in mid-thirties.

An awesome opportunity to observe as the male flew into the nest box and walked to the back near and below the web cam. His leg bands were visible and allowed for positive ID.  Minutes later, the female landed on the perch pole, then hopped her way inside the nest box.  They looked at each other for a moment and then proceeded to engage in normal courtship behavior known as mutual ledge display, which included touching their bills together many times….not often seen, and a magnificent sight to behold!

Mutual Ledge Display: Often this is precipitated by a male or female ledge display. The other bird joins the first on the ledge and both bow and ee-chup over the scrape, sometimes touching bills. This can also happen outside the eyrie.

Billing: Billing is often seen during the longer mutual ledge displays and occasionally when the pair is perching very close together. Billing involves twisting the head sideway especially by the female, and nibbling between beaks. The female’s head is usually very low with her beak directed upward, while the male faces downward. If billing occurs during a mutual ledge display, the normally loud Eechip vocalization tends to diminish toward Peeping and quiet female Chupping-incomplete variations of the Eechip sound unit.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

Wrege, P. H. and T. J. Cade. 1977. Courtship behavior of large falcons in captivity. Raptor Res. no. 11:1-46.

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Lawrence Peregrines: pushing gravel around again!

March 24, 2018 in In the Nest Box, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0324-001The female will leave the nest box for a while and then return; she usually enters the nest box and repeats the process of laying out horizontally and pushing the gravel around.  This helps her to fashion the nest bowl to her liking and is all part of the preparing for egg laying!

SCRAPING: Either bird can do this. The falcon runs its breast through the substrate or nest depression, pushing out with its legs behind. The bird is forming the nest cup (scrape), but this is also part of courtship. Scrapes may be made at several potential ledges before one is finally chosen for laying.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

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Lawrence Peregrines: perched outside nest box

March 23, 2018 in In the Nest Box, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.03.23-001Observing the peregrines through the New Balance Falcon Cam under mostly skies, wind light and variable, and temp in mid-forties.  The female continues moving around slowly with very low energy.  Some times she just sits inside the box on the gravel with little or no movement, but then hopped out to perch for a while just outside the nest box….all part of getting ready!

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Lawrence Peregrines: more nest scraping!

March 22, 2018 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0322-001Observed the gravel lined nest box through the New Balance Falcon Cam for a while late this afternoon under cloudy skies, winds from the NW at 28 MPH, and temps in low twenties.  The female was moving around again, quite a bit inside the nest box, especially pushing the gravel around and creating a bowl.  She lowers her breast down, stretches her head forward, and uses her feet to push the gravel behind her.  This means egg laying is getting ever closer!

Literature Cited:

White, C. M., N. J. Clum, T. J. Cade and W. G. Hunt. 2002. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.660

Nest Construction Process:  On ledges, consists of scraping bowl in substrate, frequently initiated by male, but by both male and female. Falcon lies on breast and pushes feet backward to produce depression (see Fig. 18 in Nelson 1970b). Substrate consists of dirt, sand, fine gravel, or sometimes decomposed fecal material or decomposed lining materials of old stick nest. Male may construct several scrapes on same ledge or on different ledges. No material deliberately added, but bones and other debris may be pulled around sitting bird to form circle of material around edge of scrape. Scraping also occurs in stick nests of other birds. Behavior as much courtship ritual as “nest-building” (Wrege and Cade 1977).

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Lawrence Peregrines: roofbox seat!

March 21, 2018 in lawrence peregrines, On the Clock Tower, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

_W7I3959-001While driving over the Duck Bridge, heading south, noticed one of the peregrines looping flight around the NW corner of the Clock Tower.  It landed out of sight.  Once around to the west side of the tower, looked around for a few minutes before finding the female up very high, on a perch ledge, outside of a vented window box.  The ledge is just below the weather vane.

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Lawrence Peregrines: in the next box

March 21, 2018 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts

2018.0321-001Observing the peregrines through the New Balance Falcon Cam under overcast skies, wind from NW around 3 MPH, and temp in low forties.  The female is moving around slowly with very low energy.  Some times she just sits inside the box on the gravel with little or no movement….all part of getting ready!

LETHARGY: Just before and during the period of egg laying (approximately eight days for four eggs) the female becomes lethargic. She can look “dumpy”, including fluffed-up feathers while perched, hanging her vent feathers (the feathers in front of the cloaca, underneath the tail) to an unusual degree, leaning slightly forward while perched, waddling when walking, dozing with one or both eyes closed for long periods, and generally remaining near the nest and being inactive. She might also spend considerable amounts of time in the nest by herself. After laying an egg, she may have periods of being more active, but lethargy is a general demeanor to note. Those without much previous experience with Peregrines should be aware it is comparative and subjective.

Literature Cited:

Cade, T. J., J. H. Enderson and J. Linthicum. 1996a. Guide to Management of Peregrine Falcons at the eyrie. Boise, ID: The Peregrine Fund, Inc. (Excerpt: Linthicum, Janet. Observing Breeding Behavior)

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