Ask the Peregrine Chick - How it Works

[birdcamfan]

TPC, I hope you can answer this question which is about owls (Sorry, I know this is a PF site). I have looked everywhere for the answer but have not been able to find it. I have watched owls choke down their prey basically whole. Even the chicks seem able to swallow something that is only slightly smaller than themselves. It sometimes takes up to a minute. How do they do this and breathe at the same time??

[RCF]

Hello TPC, I read this on the CBC site. Thought you could respond to this inquiry. With respect, I haven't a clue.   

Fort Rouge wrote:Posted 2012/05/11
at 3:50 PM ETHi!
I work in the Fort Rouge area & I'm 98.5% sure that we have a set of peregrine falcon's. The nest is setup high in a tree (very large nest) along the Red River. I'm pretty sure she has already laid her eggs & they to should be hatching anyday. The nest is approximatelyi located at the end of the walk thru, between 376 Osborne St and 360 Osborne St
 Thanks!

I saw that too and posted about it on the CBC Falcon Cam thread.

http://www.species-at-risk.mb.ca/projects/pfrp/forum/programs/index.php/topic,3131.msg84988.html#msg84988

[GCG]

  Hello TPC, I read this on the CBC site. Thought you could respond to this inquiry. With respect, I haven't a clue.   

Fort Rouge wrote:Posted 2012/05/11
at 3:50 PM ETHi!
I work in the Fort Rouge area & I'm 98.5% sure that we have a set of peregrine falcon's. The nest is setup high in a tree (very large nest) along the Red River. I'm pretty sure she has already laid her eggs & they to should be hatching anyday. The nest is approximatelyi located at the end of the walk thru, between 376 Osborne St and 360 Osborne St
 Thanks!

[newchick]

  It's been a "slice" as they say watching these beautiful birds.  It's such a great opportunity!  Thank you to all involved, and hope all the fledlings that are surviving do well.  Is Carson returning home soon before the "shut down" for this year.  Hope to hear/see them soon.

[Leana]

Thank you for the info Tracy.  Actually I do think I remember reading it was based on foot size in years past. And to think with all the technology we have it all boils down to the size of a foot...   .  They definitely need to grow into those big feet of theirs!

[The Peregrine Chick]

OK... I'm going to ask a dumb question... I read the "Ask TPC" and didn't find an answer so here goes... When you band the chicks how do you tell if they are male or female? I don't know a lot about birds (obviously) so I'm asking straight up (although I might feel like an idiot when I hear the answer)...

Nothing wrong with the question Leana and though I'm sure its been answered somewhere, you looked in all the right places so no worries.  We sex the birds based on the size of their feet.  At 21-25 days of age, the chicks' feet and legs are full grown and because female peregrines are 1/3 larger than the males, their feet at banding age are larger too.  Usually you just have to glance at their feet to be able to tell which gender they are but in the last couple of years with Trey and Princess, there have been a female or two who we banded as females based on their foot/leg size - even when we measured them!  Hurricane in Brandon is one of those chicks - she measured easily as a male but she was obviously fooling us.  When birds that are sexed incorrectly at banding turn up to nesting somewhere or are sexed after injury or death, we take care to make sure everyone's records are corrected as well.

Does that help?
TPC

[Leana]

OK... I'm going to ask a dumb question... I read the "Ask TPC" and didn't find an answer so here goes... When you band the chicks how do you tell if they are male or female? I don't know a lot about birds (obviously) so I'm asking straight up (although I might feel like an idiot when I hear the answer)...

[The Peregrine Chick]

If you have a question that doesn't seem to go somewhere else OR you don't know the Forum well enough to find the proper place a question, feel free to post it here.

How?

If you are new to the Forum click on the "Reply" button on the right side of your screen.  When the text box opens, type in your question then click on the "Save" button below.  It's just that simple.

If you are familiar with posting on the Forum, post your question as a "New Topic" and please make the "subject" self-explanatory.

PLEASE

check to see if the question has already been asked and answered.  If you have a follow-up question for an existing question/answer, feel free to post your question on the original post.