Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, May 10th, 2023
It was cold last night with low temperature in the mid 30s. The high during the day was close to 70 degrees. Astrid began the night in the box with the two nestlings and the two eggs. At 2:25 AM Astrid abruptly left the nest and when she did one of the two chicks somehow got flung out of the box. Perhaps the chick had gotten up under her wing or attached to her underside in some way. Regardless, the chick went down 15 stories to the sidewalk and apparently died on impact. I arrived at the scene about 25 minutes later and found the lifeless chick on the sidewalk beneath the box. It was a mystery why Astrid left the box so abruptly, but she had come back only a minute later with a large prey item, possibly a woodcock. So, was it just a food run? She then proceeded to feed the one remaining nestling. At 3:10 AM Ares came to the box with more prey. Astrid took it and tried to do another feeding. After about 10 minutes she was brooding the chick and eggs. It’s hard to think that Astrid and Ares wouldn’t notice the loss of one of two nestlings, but they acted like nothing unusual happened. No alarm calls, no swooping, no irritation manifested, nothing like that. Perhaps a chick that is less than a day old, and that doesn’t represent a large investment of their time and energy, is not as likely to be missed. All of the repercussions of the loss are unknown at this point. However, if the remaining two eggs fail to hatch, that would leave the single offspring with no siblings to practice flying with or to hone its skills with. In that scenario, the loss of the chick this morning could result in a juvenile bird that is less prepared for independence. If at least one other egg hatches, then this morning’s loss would likely not be felt so keenly.
At 7:10 AM Astrid left the nest and came back with prey. She then conducted another feeding. The one chick was unable to eat very much having been fed not long before. Astrid went ahead and finished the leftovers. She was brooding the chick and the eggs again by 7:16. At 9:19 Ares brought food to the long perch. Astrid came out onto the crossperch to take it. She then did another feeding. After the meal she was out, and Ares came in to babysit. His turn lasted less than a minute. Astrid was back and immediately took over on the clutch. Ares went over to the steeple for a little while. At around 10:50 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere in the canyon. Astrid called back from the nest. At 11:34 Ares did a check-in at the nest. He looked in and then was out again. He was back up on the State Building for a little while before flying off and perhaps hunting. At 12:10 PM Astrid began giving a loud cackle alarm call. We did not see any non-falcon intruders in the canyon but her eyes are better even than our optics, so who knows. At 12:28 Ares came to the long perch with food. Astrid took it on the crossperch and started a new feeding. It was at this time we thought it possible that one of the remaining eggs had a pip in it, although we could not be sure. At 12:35 Astrid left the box with the leftovers from the meal. Ares came to the nest in the interim. Astrid was on the State Building for about two minutes and then came back to the nest. Ares knows the drill now and left without argument. At 2:01 Ares was back to the nest asking for a turn with the clutch. To our surprise, Astrid allowed it. After she left Ares didn’t do a very efficient job brooding. She was back at 2:08 to take over again. Ares again, seemed OK with leaving.
At 3:44 Astrid was jostling the brood which made us wonder if one of the eggs had a pip in it, but on subsequent checks we couldn’t confirm it. At 3:59 we heard Ares give a screech call. He was then seen flying around the State Building. He then came to the nestbox, hopped inside and peered really closely into the new camera. He then lobbied Astrid for a turn on the clutch. She didn’t budge and he gave up and left. He came back just before 5:00 PM. They conversed for a little while and then Astrid consented to leave. Ares stood over the chick and the eggs for only a couple of minutes and then Astrid returned with food. Ares hopped out onto the crossperch and Astrid proceeded to do a feeding. The chick didn’t take too much before toppling over and falling asleep. Astrid finished the leftovers right there in the box. When she was done she went back to brooding. At 6:05 Ares came to the box once more. Astrid made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere, and he left. He went to the east veranda for a while before flying off and out of view. The falcons did a late switch at around 7:00. Ares brooded the chick and eggs for about five minutes before Astrid returned and took over. Goodnight Falcons.