Eight days after the first Peregrine chick hatched, plenty of changes have taken place at the nest box. Most notably the 3 chicks have been spending more time by themselves and without a parent standing nearby. Usually they are all huddled together, but today the eldest did some wandering around by itself and even eliminated over the edge of the box! Litter trained already? Well, probably not, but it’s a beginning. We’ve seen some amazing changes in their bodies too; most obvious is the size disparity between even the youngest chick and the infertile egg. The chicks’ throat pouches called “crops” have also become very prominent. Feedings have been fairly frequent and a diverse array of bird prey has been brought in by the parents. Just in the last day or so we’ve seen Blue Jay, Mourning Dove and Goldfinch brought to the nest. Lots of people have been concerned that the last chick to hatch hasn’t been getting enough food, but its growth rate would seem to indicate that it has received more than adequate nutrition. Now that their feet and legs are being seen more clearly, we’re coming close to announcing the sexes of the chicks. We’re fairly sure now what we have, but we’ll be giving it a few more days just to be even more certain.
Very nice photos and commentary, Matt.
Thank you.
Ann
Just out of curiosity, what does Astrid do with the carcasses that she carries out of the nest? I’m imaging pedestrians downtown shaking their fists at the sky as she litters the sidewalks with mostly eaten dead blue jays!
If there’s any meat on them, she stores them on ledges around the Downtown area. The State Office Building is kind of a pantry for them – lots of nice ledges there. Heads of Blue Jays and other birds are what usually pelt the sidewalks
What will happen to the unmatched egg?
It will likely stay in the box until it disintegrates. We never found a trace of the infertile egg from last year.
As was mentioned last year, have there been any improvements made to the nest box to allow for safely tagging/banding of this year’s young
Or is box location itself an issue?
Just wondering
Shortly before this season’s nesting began, we met with 2 bird banders from the DEC. All of us agreed that the placement of the box and the manner by which it would need to be accessed would jeopardize the safety of the nestlings. We discussed the idea of erecting a hood on the box, which at banding time could close off the front opening, but ultimately that plan was rejected.
In terms of nest box adaptions, the only one that took place was the addition of ledge extensions and new perches on both sides of the box. These will give the youngsters more space to exercise and practice wing flapping before they fledge.