There's still some action in the nestbox every now and then!

This video is from this afternoon where one of the juveniles was chasing the adult female around the box trying to convince her to feed him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ATcyBR0DUg

This video is from a couple days ago when they were doing some courtship rituals... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Zo6bEJ65c

For those of you who may not visit this often, most of the updates are now being posted on the sister website. Click on the link in the paragraph above. Lots has happened with the chicks in the past week, and at present there are only two in Wilmington. For details, click on the link.

We have our first fledge!!!

Please see my post about the informal fledge watch starting this Thursday!
http://wilmfalcons.com/blog/?p=806

Here is a funny video from this morning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEh7ox_qmDM

Wilmington’s own pair of Peregrine Falcons is raising a brood of five in their nest atop the Brandywine Building. We hope and expect that the young birds will make their first flights in the first and second weeks in June and perch on other office buildings in the downtown area for the following four weeks or so. Keep an eye out for them. Hopefully they will be perched or flying, but sometimes they end up stranded on the ground. If you find a falcon in trouble, please telephone the following until someone responds (all area code 302): Kim Steininger, 766-1820; Greg Inskip, 984-6016; Steve Martin, 984-6150; or Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, 737-9543. If you work in an office building downtown, you can help protect the falcons by forwarding this note to the building manager. During the fledging period the old falcons can get very aggressive, screaming and diving at people working on office building roofs especially if a young falcon has happened to perch there. These encounters can be unnerving for workers and fatal for falcons if workers defend themselves by striking the birds with long objects like brooms. We hope that roof top activity can be kept to a minimum during this period. We further ask that workers be alerted to the possibility of falcons diving and that they can protect themselves by simply holding something (arms, if necessary) over their head, without trying to strike the falcons.

I don't know how to post images on this blog so I'm posting a link to my blog with pictures of the falcons from this morning: http://www.wilmfalcons.com/blog.htm

In case you've never heard what a Peregrine Falcon chick sounds like, you might want to check out this video. The lighting was really bad but you can hear the chicks calling. Maybe if we get some nice donors, next year we'll have sound! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9T0Alv0ZoY

A funny video of one of the chicks from about an hour ago! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eE4csbbV8U

Here's a video of one of the chicks jumping up to the ledge from about 30 minutes ago... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVY6-Gtg5oM

 

(posted on behalf of Anthony Gonzon)

For the time being, the Peregrine Falcon banding has been postponed.  Upon arrival this morning, the chicks were out on the ledge in front of the nest box.  They are exhibiting a high level of activity and can now move to the ledge easily.  To prevent any unfortunate events, we decided that was in the falcons' best interest to attempt banding at a later date when they will hopefully all be in the box (possibly tomorrow or Friday).  

Please note that, with regards to banding, we hold the well-being of the chicks in the highest regard and will not endanger them by banding them if we feel it is too risky.  Unfortunately, it may mean that they go unbanded, but that may  be what is best for the chicks at this time.

Thanks to all of you viewers out there!  And stay tuned....

 

Posted on behalf of Bill Stewart, who wrote this: The chicks will be banded today (Wednesday5/25)between 10:00 and 12:00 am. Craig Koppie, USFWS Endangered Species Biologist, will be heading up the banding process, assisted by Anthony Gonzon from DNREC's DE Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. The activity level in the box during the banding will be really revved up. The 4' x 6' box juts back into a narrow hallway and the chicks will be accessed by a door in the back of the box, no one will be repelling down from the rooftop in this procedure, thank heavens! Craig will be removing, if all goes to plan, four chicks at first, leaving one in the box to help calm the parents. Once removed, the chicks will be processed and banded in an expeditious fashion with weighing, measuring, sexing and overall health evaluations performed. Once completed, the banded chicks will be returned and the last chick will be removed, processed and returned to the box. With all of this activity in the box, the adults will be actively trying to protect their young and will be quite vocal and active. Anyway, the entire process is quick, thorough and non-harming to the chicks and should provide some real exciting viewing! Tune in! Bill Stewart

For anyone who didn't see the post on my blog yesterday... Here's a link to a video showing the adult female feeding the kids and having a tug of war with one and then another stealing the food and running off with it. At least one of them is eating without mom's help now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoOLB6olP0A

Here are a couple videos of feedings from tonight...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhqaj5oHjNk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53rH7Pm4-uc

These adults definitely have their work cut out for them catching enough food to feed five hungry chicks! The chicks on the right don't seem to be getting as much food as the ones on the left but they're all growing at the same rate so I'm sure they get their fair share at other feedings!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5sqzqVFcnM

Don't be alarmed if you check the webcam and don't see any birds! It just means they're out of camera view! Hopefully that won't happen very often.

I just tuned in to see all 5 chicks in a tidy semi-circle getting their lunch. They seemed remarkably polite and orderly- no pushing and shoving. Just sitting up and waiting their turn. They have really grown quite a bit since hatching! I've also noticed that the adults are spending less time warming the chicks (brooding) as they've grown.

I have received a number of questions inquiring where have all the feathers come from and what are they used for at this time. The feathers are remains from the prey the adults bring into the box to feed the hatchlings. Peregrine falcons capture their prey, birds, while in flight and then either return to the box with the newly caught bird or store the prey victim in a nearby cache for later use. I am suspecting this box will be getting rather full over the next few weeks! Bill Stewart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZtEFxT5nTM

Here's a link to a video from Monday of both adults feeding the chicks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wdGMMbfAQc The male is on the left. It's interesting that sometimes he feeds the chicks and other times he gives the food to the female to feed to the chicks.

For those of you who might not have visited the sister site recently, you might want to check it out. Kim Steininger has been very good about giving updates and capturing photos from the webcam. The link is above.

There was a comment heard that it was 'cute to see the mother nurse the chicks'. Sorry........ birds do not nurse their young. They are not mammals. They have no nipples and they don't produce milk. When the mother is settling over the chicks she is keeping them warm (see Anthony's note below). In fact, these peregrine chicks (or as Ant said, the eyasses) are eating dead birds that the parent falcons have hunted and killed. Peregrine falcons are carnivores - no doubt about it, and they are extremely good hunters. Check out the sister site for more peregrine information.

In a complete reversal of last year's unfortunate events, the falcons now have FIVE chicks to care for! Sometime late on April 28 or in the early morning hours of April 29, #5 joined its siblings and greeted downtown Wilmington and the rest of the world. Mom and Dad are going to be very busy over the next few weeks keeping all of those mouths fed. The female should spend most of her time brooding the chicks until they can regulate their own body temps and will most likely be the one we see feeding them most often. The tiercel will be very busy hunting and likely has a cache of food stored someplace near the nest box. He may bring food right to the brood or, we may see Mom leave briefly and bring something back from the food cache. These eyasses will grow quickly, so stop in often to watch them!

Today at 5:30pm I watched the male bring some prey items to the 4 chicks. Can't make out what the prey item is, but if you walk beneath the nest box on 12th St., you will start to see lots of feathers and parts of bird bodies - remnants of food eaten by the peregrines. We got a request for information about when the rest of the chicks hatched. Kim Steininger wrote yesterday morning, that before 6 am, she noticed the 4 chicks, which means that three hatched overnight. That seems pretty unusual, and makes for a huge amount of work for both parents because those chicks will want to be fed non-stop. You can see that there is still one unhatched egg. That egg will probably be abandoned. Raising 4 chicks will be a full time effort....... 5:43 and the male is still pulling bits of the prey apart to feed the chicks, and they are still raising their heads and opening their mouths........ and as I watch, they all appear to be settling down for a rest - its been a full day. (Did I miss something as I wrote this because it looks like the female is hunkering down over the chicks?) Things do happen fast.

The first chick was seen at 10:40 this morning (April 26). The first feeding was about 3:15pm. The male came in and relieved mom so she could go hunt, and it was she that brought in the goodies. At 3:30 all are calm and looks like the chick is having its post meal afternoon nap.

Looks like Mom & Dad are going to have their hands full!

With luck on our side, we should be a little more than a week away for some egg-hatching!!!

As of Friday, 3/25, a fifth egg has been laid, you go girl!!

While it may seem like things are off to a slow start, I think this is typical of peregrines. According to Birds of North America, females lay 1 egg every 2 to 3 days, which is just what we are seeing. Clutch size should be either 3 or 4 eggs. Incubation typically doesn't start until the second to last or last egg is laid. If incubation started with the first egg then the first chick to hatch might be as much as 1-1 1/2 weeks older than the last chick. The eggs are fine unattended this early in incubation unless it is really cold. Incubation should be about 33 days, so be patient!

Great to see the first egg of the season. Hopefully the falcons will have a successful season this year.