Hi TPC - I have a question . . . how will the chicks know how to hunt without being taught by the parents?
Sorry Stormy, buzzed right by your question!
How do the chicks learn how to hunt? Like flying, it is hardwired into their little brains. The chicks just one day step off wherever their nest is and they fly, poorly at first usually and they get better. Then they start chasing things - usually its their siblings (a continuation of chasing and nibbling at each other in the nestbox or nestledge at the Radisson) and their parents. Then the parents will encourage the chicks to chase them with food and they will start to transfer the food in mid-air, forcing the chicks to develop skills for catching/grabbing things in mid-air, then they start to chase/grab/catch other things from grasshoppers to whatever hapless bird crosses their path when they are "in the mood". Then the catch is recognized as food and the chicks start to do it on purpose for the purpose of food on tap (so to speak).
Without their parents, the chicks will start to chase things on their own. They are provided food daily for weeks, so like the chicks-with-parents, the hardwiring will kick in and they will start chasing things on their own and the rest is the same as the chicks-with-parents. They are provided with food for longer than the wild parents will provide their chicks, so they won't be left in the lurch, they will have more time to practice and work on their skills than their wild-chicks-with-parents neighbours. In fact, the hacked chicks will let the attendants know when they have had enough food-deliveries. The amount of food (Japanese quail) starts to drop off as the chicks start hunting and then when they don't come back for food, that's that and the food isn't provided at the site any longer and the chicks are on their own.
Now is having a parent around better for hunting skills? Hard to say. Remember, all the wild peregrines in Canada and the US are descended from hack-released, captive-bred birds - no parents taught any of them how to hunt. And Beau, he's a captive-bred bird that was hack-released into the wild at the same age as his kids. He turned out well. And even though we don't know anything about Jules, given the type of band she has on her leg, it is entirely likely that her background is much the same as Beau's.
