Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project

FEEDING AT 19:00





And a slideshow:



The three little Derby hatchlings are doing very well. They are fed every 2-3 hours as they should be. Last night working very late on my Blog I saw how the female was sitting with eyes wide open and moving up and down, no doubt being pushed up by her 3little newborns. Don't think she minds though.
What about the fourth egg. I don't think it will hatch anymore. It is not being incubated intensively anymore. Which is impossible now that the three eyases need care and food. It should have hatched within 24- 48 hours.
But we do have 3 very fine an adorable hatchlings of which we are all very proud.
Thanks to all the people of the project who have worked so hard to make this succes possible.

Visit the Derby Blog:http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/

4 Feedings of today in 200 pics and 4 slideshows

http://falcoperegrinus-froona.blogspot.com/2008/05/derby-morning-feeding-at-1000.html

Yesterday in more than a hundred pics:
http://falcoperegrinus-froona.blogspot.com/2008/05/derby-3-eyases.html

Rochester: 2 more days

Both Mariah and Kaver where fuzzing around a lot. As well with the eggs as with stones in the scrape. This could be an indication that something is going on. We do miss the sound now. Because about 2 days before hatching the eyases pick through the aircell membrane. For the first time they will breath and start screaming immediately. Within the eggs. The soft little screams are a very distinct continious shrishrishri. Especially when the parents talk back. So maybe something can be heard within the eggs.
Estimated hatchdate is May 9. Looking so very forward to the eyases of this so special peregrine couple.

Oberhausen: continuing story of the headless pigeon

And again at 11:30 there was the daily pigeon delivery. The female dropped by with a freshly caught prey. Three very enthousiastic juvi's awaited her impatiently, grabbed the poor headless pigeon and went screaming up to the nestbox.
I was very curious if they would manage today to pluck the thing. For a second I thought one would. She pulled some feathers off but still didn't get the message. All three standing around the pigeon, one on top, deliberating. It looked very real but she only pulled some flesh out of the neckwound. After some very intens doing nothing of importance and walking around the pigeon, pulling it into the other corner, standing on it once more, they left.... In the middle of the scrape lay the headless pigeon.
They simply left this big fresh prey intact behind in the scrape and went to sleep on the ledge. If the thing would still have it's head on I do believe it could simply walk out and take off.
Although they look like a bird of prey, the prey part is still a long way from home.
Maybe tomorrow. So tune in on the webcam around noon. Who knows....

Terminal Tower Cleveland

The chicks are beginning to enter the "hunchback" phase, during which they are often seen in the pose above, with their feet splayed out in front of them and their head angled forward. And they start exploring the nestsite, like the one in the pics has started to do.

Zwolle: 11 days old already

The Zwolle eyases are already 11 days old. And being very well taken care off by their parents. The Netheralnds are having very warm wheather this week. So it is very warm in teh afternoon in the nestbox in Zwolle. The parents know they have to protect their little ones agianst the sunshine. Every afternoon we can see how they create shade for them by their wings. They are panting themselfs from the hot sun beams on their back. But better that that harm to their offspring.

Harrisburg: 5 days old

No fifth hatch this year. The 4 eyases are doing fine and have grown considerable. They are 5 days old now.

Cobb Island

De Mortel

Unfortunately we had some trouble with the webcams today. And we where not able to fixe it before 7 this evening. So not many pics today. But the ones I have are very beautiful.
The little peregrine family is still very impressive in the way they interact. The behaviour of the female and her 4 eyases is so tender and loving. It's almost dangerous to talke about these emotions but watching this is moving. They are so very close. The eyases to her and she to her eyases. Pa does not seem to play any major role in the whole thing. He just provides food, but is very rarely in the nestbox and he does not feed his eyases. S2 is the one who feeds them, cuddles up with them and stays with them at night. She is one kind of a mother!

Rome: 27 days old

The fighting over food keeps going on. When Aria arrived with a fresh plucked pigeon the eyas even tried to grab the whole bird, but Aria did not let her. They seem very hungry all the time. Even now, it's almost midnight they are weaning for food.

James River Bridge

The James River Bridge eyases are transforming rapidly. Very well visible now are the brown patches around their eyses and the dark flightfeathers growing. They are standing very well on their instead of sitting on their tarsi. The juvenile feathers on their breast will appear more and more in the upcoming days.

Oberhausen: that's the way to do it

Welland there she finally was. The pigeon was left in the corner of the nestbox. One of the juvi's did put on a show, and it looked quite real. But the pigeon was still in possesion of al his feathers. That's certaintly not going to happen to many who have been run over by 3 peregrine falcons. To be that is.
The female started plucking the poor thing and the 3 juvi;s where standing arounf here no doubt screaming and wailing from exitement. Watch what she is doing I thought, watch and learn. But it seem to be a very long way.
In the meantime they are growing and becoming very beautiful juvi's. Their down is almost gone. Only under the wings is some left.

Zurich: sitting on the ledge

I have not seen both eyases outside together since Saterday, but I'n sure they are both there. The parents keep an eye on things when one is outside. When they are they are flapping a lot. There they have the room to do so. Inside the scrape it must be very narrow.

Brighton Sussex Heights: 9 days old

The chicks have already grown visibly, but remain covered in white down with pink patches of skin still showing through in some areas.
The chicks are not able yet to keep their bodytemperature up. They do not yet have the second down. So by cuddling up together the way they do with their bellies against eachother they form one body so to speak. In this way it is for each indivudal much easier to keep the body temperature constant. That is when the parents are not there. They have to leave every once in a while to get food, or to release theselves from droppings. When the chicklets are about 12-14 days old they are much better able to regulate their bodytemperature. They do have their second down by then.

Nijmegen eyases 15 days old

Indianapolis

Eyases growth and development

Click the pictures to enlarge

Condition At Hatching

The peregrine falcon eyases are semialtricial, nidicolous; covered with off-white (prepenne) down. Semi altricial means: Covered with down, incapable of departing from the nest, and fed by the parents. In species like the peregrine falcon we speak of semi-altricial 2, hatch with the eyes closed.
The bill and feet pinkish to pale gray with eyes closed. They weigh about 35–40 g. If eyes open with food-begging first day, they are slitlike. The eyases obtain 2 downy plumages.



Growth and development

At 5 days after hatch, their mass has doubled. The eyas can sit with relative ease, and the open eyes are more round.
At 6–8 days of age the second down (mesoptile or preplumulae) starts to emerge, first on humeral and alar tracts but no down visible on belly at 6 day, although on the legs and belly at 8 days.
Also second down is well out on the wings and looks a bit blueish and sheaths of primaries breaking skin on wings.



By 10 days of age the second down is complete and uniform and outer rectrices are breaking skin. At 10 days, primaries growing at 2–3 mm/d, rectrix sheath not yet split.
At 14 days the second down is dense and long, rectrix sheath about 2 mm and typically ninth primary emerges from sheath.
By day 17 the contour feathers start to push out prepennae and only pale (buffy) tips of rectrices have emerged but growing at about 2 mm/d (since day 13).


By 10 days of age the second down is complete and uniform and outer rectrices are breaking skin. At 10 days, primaries growing at 2–3 mm/d, rectrix sheath not yet split.
At 14 days the second down is dense and long, rectrix sheath about 2 mm and typically ninth primary emerges from sheath.
By day 17 the contour feathers start to push out prepennae and only pale (buffy) tips of rectrices have emerged but growing at about 2 mm/d (since day 13).


At 20 days while still with heavy coat of second down, brown contour feathers are visible on margins of wings, tail, and faintly around the eyes.
By 30 days young appears about half down-covered and half feathered; while side of face well feathered, crown still covered with down.


At 35 days while mostly feathered, large conspicuous patches of down around legs, under wings, and on crown.
At 40 days almost fully feathered with traces of down on crown and under wings and outer several remiges; rectrices not fully grown but bird capable of weak flight.

From my Peregrine falcon website:

http://www.falcoperegrinus.nl/

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Zwolle: 11 days old already

Cobb Island: 15 days old

The Cobb eyases are 15 days old. And very well fed. Look at the big crops, full of food. In the front part of the neck the crop (or ingluvies) is found. It is actually an outpouching of the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. Many people think that all birds have a crop, but some do not, including the gull and penguin. The crop, in eyases, is very large, and shrinks down as the eyas grws older.
The crop should always be well filled. The eyases need a constant supply of nutrients, so the parents feed the little ones several times a day.