Manitoba Peregrines > State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska
State Capitol - 2014 / 19K & Alley
The Peregrine Chick:
Not the first storm this little family has had to endure this month ... this was Sunday (June 2nd) ... and this was probably what one or both of the adults were doing last night to, or for as much/long as they could ...
photo from the NebraskaLand, Non-Game Bird Blog
more photos here: http://neblandvm.outdoornebraska.gov/2014/06/stormy-sunday-soggy-birds/
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: irenekl on June 04, 2014, 09:59 ---PC, is it typical for the parents to go save themselves during a storm and not try to protect their chicks? These chicks were pretty big already so hovering over them likely wasn't possible.
--- End quote ---
Oldest chick was 18 days old which means these two were about the body size of their male parent sans the feathers - we band them just at 21 days old because their feet have finished growing, so these two were teenagers. Don't know how much protection the parents might have been able to provide - and any storm that is strong enough to get 2 almost banding age chicks out of the nestbox that is pretty sheltered and secure is a heck of a storm - and it was (Storms cause damage throughout Nebraska (photos & video)) including at least one tornado ( Storms batter state with hail, high winds and heavy rain .
As for "saving themselves", yes that is normal evolutionary behaviour - if offspring dies but the adult survives there can be more offspring, if the offspring survives but the adult dies, the offspring usually dies too. But to be fair to Alley & 19K it likely had nothing to do with saving themselves, they could very well have been in the box with the kids and the only thing that saved them was their ability to fly though flying in that kind of weather likely not a evolutionarily smart thing to do. We may never know, it may have been a fluke gust of wind, chicks crowding into the wrong corner of the nestbox, chicks trying to find a more sheltered spot and remember, this is the boot-scoot period of development, they can't walk, they are just starting the waddle-stomp phase. Unless someone was able to watch on-camera and reports, it's possible we will never know what happened, just that the two chicks were lost.
carly:
--- Quote from: irenekl on June 04, 2014, 09:59 ---Oh dear God, very difficult news to hear. Gotta wonder what goes through those parents heads when they discover chicks are missing?? PC, is it typical for the parents to go save themselves during a storm and not try to protect their chicks? These chicks were pretty big already so hovering over them likely wasn't possible.
--- End quote ---
Not much you can do when you only weigh 1.5-2 lbs and you have 2 babies that don't have flight wings against 100 mph winds. Just like Princess couldn't do anything to stop the rain all those years ago.
Such a tragedy for everyone :'(
sparkster:
:'( Such terrible news.
RCF:
--- Quote from: Moonstar on June 04, 2014, 10:07 ---This is so sad. :'( Is there any chance they could have landed somewhere and survived?
--- End quote ---
I just found out the building maintenance found the two chicks but they didn't survive. :-[
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