May 19, 2017 in In the Nest Box
The chicks are growing in size with boundless appetites! They are now more erect at feeding time and ready to gobble each meal brought in by the female. This is an evening feeding, about 90 minutes before sunset and now we can see their wings, used to help with balance, while they feed.
May 18, 2017 in In the Nest Box
Here the female is keeping an eye on her growing brood in the nest box. In these early days, the chicks are fed and then given plenty of time to rest. Many thanks to the New Balance team for providing this close up access to the Lawrence Peregrines!
May 17, 2017 in In the Nest Box
The chicks are eating many times each day and are growing. In between meals they tend to huddle close to one another for warmth. They always respond when the female brings food.
In this moment, they had been in tight huddle, the female arrived with a big breakfast. They eagerly stretched out their necks, packed away the meal and went back to the tight huddle! The female makes sure the food is distributed fairly and tenderly.
May 16, 2017 in In the Nest Box
With temps in the 80’s and the late afternoon sun shining brightly into the nest box, the female provides shade to the nestlings!
May 14, 2017 in In the Nest Box
The adults begin feeding the chicks shortly after that have hatched. At this sage, their eyes remain closed, but the chicks already have the instinct to crane their necks upward for food! Most of the brooding and feeding of small young is carried out by the female, while the male hunts to supply the food. After the first couple of weeks, the female shares the hunting.
May 13, 2017 in In the Nest Box
Hatching begins when the chick hammers a hole in the egg with a special “egg tooth” on the end of its beak. The bird makes a neat cut all the way around the egg, essentially cutting off the large end of the egg. This process may take up to 48 hours and requires a great deal of energy.
A newly hatched falcon chick weighs about one and a half ounces (60 grams) and is virtually blind. Covered only with a light coat of fluffy white down, it requires constant brooding by the female in order to stay warm. Obtaining energy from the small remnant of the egg yolk, now neatly tucked away inside its body, the newly hatched eyas isn’t usually fed by the parents for about 24 hours.
Feeding commences on day two, when the young falcon gapes and bobs its head around in search of small pieces of meat delicately provided by the female. She elicits their food-begging and feeding behavior by evoking a sharp “eeechup” call as she approaches the brood with food.
May 11, 2017 in In the Nest Box
Male and female in nest box in middle afternoon with first chick hatched and other 3 eggs ready to hatch!
Inside the egg, the Peregrine chick has its head tucked under its wing. A large muscle called the hatching muscle runs from the middle of the neck to the top of the head. About 30 days after incubation has started, this muscle contracts. The chick’s head snaps up and the egg tooth, a hard pointed knob on top of the beak, cracks the inside of the eggshell. This creates a “pip” – a small hole with tiny cracks spreading out across the shell. One to two days after pipping, the chick begins moving around in the shell. The egg tooth scrapes against the eggshell, cutting a ring through it. Around 31 days after the egg is laid, the chick breaks out.
April 19, 2017 in In the Nest Box
As the incubation process continues, many have asked for more specifics about how it all works?
Heat makes the eggs start developing. When the eggs reach about 98.6°F, or 37°C the egg begins changing into an eyas. Conveniently enough, a Peregrine’s natural body temperature is about 103°F, or 39.5°C, so to heat up the eggs all they need to do is to get some of that body heat onto the eggs. Now, a Peregrine’s feathers make very good insulation. That’s how they can stand to stay out in cold temperatures without freezing to death. But while those feathers keep the cold air away from the falcon’s skin, they also keep their body heat from getting out. So to incubate the eggs, the Peregrine carefully settles down, shifting from side to side to get the eggs beneath their feathers. Falcons have brood patches, areas on their breasts with a lot of blood vessels close to the surface of their skin. The blood vessels concentrate their body heat, making it easier to transfer the heat to the eggs. Both adults have brood patches, though his are smaller than hers, which makes sense since he’s a smaller bird.
Peregrines incubate their eggs for 29 to 33 days. In the early days of brooding it’s important to keep the eggs as close to their ideal incubating temperature as possible. Too hot or too cool and the eggs won’t develop properly. Later in the incubation process, proper temperature isn’t quite as important. In fact, after a couple of weeks the falcons will be able to leave the eggs uncovered for longer periods of time. Sometimes leaving the eggs uncovered frequently, or for long periods can mean that the eggs hatch a few days later than normal. For the Lawrence Peregrines, their nest box is in a place where it’s not likely to be disturbed, so they most often incubate steadily until the eggs hatch.
April 17, 2017 in Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts
Made a visit to Watertown tonight in search of a pair of breeding Peregrine Falcons that had been reported recently by friends. The pair has been in residence for the past few years and have a well located nest box in the penthouse section of an office building with wonderful views. The night was mostly cloudy with some breaks with bright sunlight bursting through for some nice photos.
It was near sunset and the light was starting to fade a bit, with winds from the west at 16MPH, gusts over 20MPH, and temps in upper 60F. Both adults were seen in flight and perched around the building envelope. A falcon cam is in place but malfunctioned prior to egg laying so no date certainty on start of eggs being laid…stay tuned!
April 12, 2017 in Peregrine Falcons Haverhill
After months of observing the peregrines in downtown Haverhill and comparing notes with many other local falcon watchers, the pair of Peregrines in Haverhill have again laid eggs int he downtown area. Last year, they laid eggs under the Basiliere Bridge over the Merrimack River.
Mass Wildlife then built out and placed a nest box in a tower on the bridge with hopes that the peregrines would find and use the nest box. It looks like they settled in and dropped eggs on top of an apartment building near the railroad bridge.
Here the female had been perched atop a rooftop antenna and then launched into flight out over the Merrimack River!
