All 3 eggs have hatched! Peregrine eyasses grow at an incredible rate. By the time they are six weeks old they will be as big as their parents. Each week you will notice changes in their appearance and behavior. During the first week, the eyasses can’t do much - except eat! SW spends most of her time keeping them warm if the weather is cool, since they cannot regulate their body heat. Ranger does most of the hunting at this point. There are several feedings per day. Wildlife biologist Marcel Gahbauer tells us: "…. the chicks at a young age already scream for food incessantly, regardless of how recently they have been fed. This will only increase, and eventually you will see both adults away from the nest most of the time, for as long as one or the other is present, the chicks will be clamouring for food from them, even if they have none".
Mr. Harvey Webster, Director of Wildlife Resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, tells us that even with cold weather or heavy rain, “…..it is a tribute to S/W that she can create a warm and dry sanctuary for the chicks with her own body. The parents, in brooding the chicks, provide a source of warmth. In fact the temperature closest to the brood patch on S/W's abdomen might be close to 100 degrees F. The brood patch is featherless and highly vascularized to provide maximum surface area for heat transfer”. During the first 2 hatches, it was pouring rain in Cleveland…..
Mr. Wright reports that first-time dad, Ranger, has been learning the ropes of how to be a good dad.
He is doing a great job of hunting and bringing back food for the family, but he is just leaning how to sit on the eggs so that SW can take a break. Mr. Wright says, “Ranger was like a very shy kid before he finally got to cover all of them”. When Ranger is not out hunting, he stays close by to watch over the nest.
With warmer weather, SW may leave the little ones uncovered a bit more for us to see.
Mr. Scott Wright, peregrine falcon nest monitor at this site for almost 20 years, has been visiting the nestsite. Here is a picture he took of Ranger.
and SW was very wet……………
but her first eyass and eggs were dry and warm……..
Our thanks to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for sponsoring the FalconCams and for the still.
Photos are courtesy of Scott Wright, volunteer peregrine nest monitor. They may be used by children for school and/or personal projects, but please give Mr. Wright photo credit. All others must contact Mr. Wright directly for permission to use his photos.
