Last night, Mr. Harvey Webster, Director of Wildlife Resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History told us, “At 10:50 PM., 3/18/2010, SW assumed incubating posture in the west scrape in the nest platform. We will have to wait for daylight to confirm the first egg but all indications are that she laid it at 10:49 and immediately set to incubation”. And this morning, there it was…………..
Announcing SW and Ranger’s first egg!
SW usually has 4 eggs, and most peregrines have three or four eggs. Some young females may produce less and some females may have five or even seven eggs, but it seems to be difficult for most peregrine parents to keep up with feeding more than 4 hungry growing chicks.
Mr. Wright describes this stage as the "lethargic egg-laying phase where she will not stray very far form the nest. She will not fly much and in general, like any expectant female of any species, her activities will be naturally limited by the additional weight she is now carrying. Ranger is close by and has been feeding her, as the female will not hunt during this phase. The eggs (when they are laid) are laid every other day, four eggs will take 7 days to lay. That means she is in labor every other day and will experience 4 bouts of labor in under one week”.
It is Ranger’s job to hunt and bring back food for SW while she is laying eggs, during the time she is sitting on the eggs, and later on while the chicks are young. Because Ranger is new to fatherhood, falcon watchers have worried he wouldn’t quite know what to do – but Ranger is doing well in his new role as a dad. Mr. Wright reports he is feeding SW while she is unable to hunt for herself during egg-laying. Here is Ranger in a hunting stoop.
An eyewitness working inside a nearby skyscraper describes seeing a peregrine dive: "Saw …. a stoop. He went past my office window in an absolute vertical dive at a speed that startled me. It occurred at a moment (split second) that I happened to be glancing out the window at the lake. He missed his intended target, which I never saw, and flew to the top of the Marion Bldg. on West 3rd. Street. He stayed there for about three minutes and then flew to the roof of the Justice Center. I can only say that this bird's speed was incredible---like a bullet shot!!! I know their speed is estimated to be approximately 200MPH--but to actually see it is an incredible experience."
Mr. Scott Wright, who has monitored this nestsite for many years, adds: "Actually, the speed is more like 250mph! I had a radar gun lent to me by MPH, (a company in Kentucky that makes radar guns for the police) and I had the gun for two years. I had Szell (an earlier male peregrine falcon at this nestsite) at over 250mph."
The falcon uses its talons to strike and/or grasp the prey in flight, and the impact is usually strong enough to kill the prey instantly. After the prey has been struck (people who have witnessed a strike say it looks like an explosion of feathers) the peregrine must catch the prey as it falls. If the prey is not dead, peregrines will bite the neck of the victim to finish it off, and they have a special notch in their beak for this purpose.
The following National Geographic clip shows incredible footage of a peregrine named Frightful as she flies and dives:
Our thanks to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for sponsoring the FalconCams and for the still.
The stoop photo is courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Saladin. The other photos are courtesy of Mr. Scott Wright. Photos can be used in any non-commercial publication, electronic or print, but please give credit.
