Other Peregrine Projects > Australian Peregrines
NSW - Charles Sturt University - 2017 / Xavier & Diamond
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: burdi on October 13, 2017, 19:22 ---
--- Quote from: burdi on October 13, 2017, 16:37 ---Today is Saturday, Oct. 14 in Orange, and Diamond was feeding the chicks at 0648 hrs while Xavier was on his way out. I felt sorry for Xavier as he rarely gets a chance to feed (and has to cut it short when he does)! Poor guy, how's he supposed to become an expert with so little experience?
--- End quote ---
Just thinking that perhaps falcon dads aren't required to be experts at feeding, aside from cases where they're left to raise their young on their own. Hmm, are my thoughts on the right track or not? TPC? ???
--- End quote ---
Long answer for a short question ... ;D
Do males have to be expert feeders? I guess not, but your chicks will survive/thrive better if both parents are equally competent/capable and not just if one parent is lost. If dad can help more with the chicks, then the workload can be more evenly shared and the burden on the adult birds is more manageable which helps them make it through the breeding season better, defend their nest/young, survive/thrive for another year. Couple of examples -
T-Rex was an uber-daddy - he did everything and his mates had much less to do. That might have suited some females, might not have suited others, but that was his thing - he incubated, hunted, fed, defended, taught, you name it he did it - and that was before we had webcams so he was probably even more uber than we know. He had good success but not so many successful offspring - remember, success is not just to pass along your genes but for your young to successfully have young. His son
Trey was a superstar in that he was an all rounder - defended, incubated, brooded, provided, put up with Princess somewhat dictatorial ways and was a demon for keeping his nestbox clean. And his kids with Princess are our most successful to date - Alley, Radisson, Ivy, Hurricane.
Next came Ivy, Trey's son, not much defence required, Princess is pretty dominant by this point, but eager to do whatever was necessary. Defended well when needed, good child care again when needed - both because Princess at this point was more in charge than she had been with Trey. Ivy was not much of a cleaner but enough of one that given the sheer volume of food that kid brought in for every meal, those chicks should have been swimming in feathers (bit like Radisson & Chase some years in Edmonton!). Ivy's kids never finished the meals he brought in, they burped and waddled away to nap and Princess took care of the leftovers. Defence, chick-care were as Princess allowed, the hunting was his thing and he was as much a rockstar at that as was T-Rex as carer and Trey as an all-rounder. The result? We have some of Ivy's kids turning up on territories like his father and grandfather.
Pip is the latest in the line, he's a great-great-grandson of T-Rex (T-Rex, Trey, Ivy, Hart, Pip) and I hope he returns and we see at least one more year with Princess, interesting dynamic there. She is much more laid back with him and he's a very quick study though if he has Trey's cleaning gene it has manifested itself yet. For the rest though, he looks more like an all-rounder like Trey than a hunting machine like Ivy or uber-stay-at-home dad like T-Rex, but one year makes it tough to tell yet.
So, does a male peregrine need to be an expert feeder? No but it sure helps. Can you tell after one season if a bird will be uber/super? Not always. Some birds are naturals, some just need practice, some need to be more confident in what they are doing which takes time and some take their lead from their partners if they have the experience they lack - never underestimate the power of having a) a teacher, b) a really good teacher.
Just my buck & a quarter (inflation don't ya know)
burdi:
Alison, I’m very sorry to hear that you’re not able to view the cams or follow the site, but I’m hoping this will somehow improve for you.
burdi:
I see a feed is happening at 0804 hrs!
burdi:
On Sunday morning at 0619 hrs AEDT in Orange, NSW, Diamond was looking out from the ledge and probably hoping for a food delivery. The temperature was 8.1°C and expected to reach a high of 20°C. Diamond was no longer in the nest box at 0643 hrs, and the chicks were sleeping. At 0737 hrs a parent made a brief stop ... and currently, the chicks are alone. Hopefully they enjoy the day, but I won’t be able to keep a close watch on them.
Alison:
Thank you for the updates, Burdi. The cams on the site no longer work from where I am, nor does the information page. Obviously they do work in some locations. Unless there is a major upgrade to the site, I don't think I will be able to see the live stream again.
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