Eurasian Kestrel - Netherlands / Beleef de Lente

[birdcamfan]

these guys have fledged and there are some clips of them zipping around the nest box. On the same Beleef de Lente site, the kestrels cam has 6 larges chicks that will likely fledge soon, very cute http://www.beleefdelente.nl/vogel/torenvalk

[susha]

I agree, Irene - they are so skittish and crazy - so unraptor-like and yet, as parents, they seem so like the PF's!  Such a big family to feed!  It'll be fun to see them grow - I sure hope all goes well.
 

[irenekl]

I've been watching this nest also Susha and am thrilled at the success here finally!!  Kestrals are crazy, skittish birds aren't they.  The crows haven't been around the last few days so hopefully that misery has passed so these chicks get a good chance to mature & fledge.  These chicks are the absolute cutest little things!

[susha]

Six new chicks in this nest.  Almost as cute as the PF's
The little clips are most entertaining...watching a feeding going on while the sixth chick hatches and especially fun is the clip with dad trying to feed the kids, by plopping the entire mouse on top of the babies and looking perplexed that they're not interested

[birdcamfan]

The drama here just never ends!

[allikat]

WOW!!!
I'm going to have to go and check the site again.  Thanks for the update!

[birdcamfan]

Believe it or not, the doves moved back into this nest box a few weeks ago and are incubating. Hopefully there will be at least one successful nest (even if they are not kestrels) at this site this year.

[birdcamfan]

Interesting post today. The translation is difficult but it seems that they found a male kestrel that they suspect disappeared from this nest a few weeks ago. It was picked up about 2 km away from the nest box by the "animal ambulance" but succumbed to its injuries. They report that there is another kestrel nest about 1 km from this nest box so perhaps a territorial dispute?? They think it is too late for the female to start another nest this year.

[birdcamfan]

The dove was sitting on the Kestrel eggs last night but they have been sitting there exposed most of the time. I expect  this has an impact on their viability. I wonder if seeing these eggs in the nest will affect her hormones and her fertility? She seems motivated to incubate them at least part of the time.

[The Peregrine Chick]

I don't believe the doves will remove, I have found pigeon nests with old eggs in them ...
As for the doves incubating them, I have no idea.  I guess it could happen ... cowbirds lay eggs in other birds' nests and then abandon them to nest's owner to raise - and since the cowbird chicks grow so fast, they tend to take all the food and the legitimate chicks don't stand a chance.

(for more information on cowbirds and their reproductive strategy check out their All About Birds entry)

[allikat]

I really hope the doves don't incubate these eggs or they will be very disappointed.  It's really really sad that after all that drama, we are back at the beginning when the doves got in there first.  I don't know if doves would remove these eggs or what?  TPC?

[maggieblue]

The dove is back in the nest making those noises over the eggs.  The latest update says that the female Kestrel made only 4 very brief visits yesterday.  It appears to be a case of use it or lose it, at least that is how I translate their comments.  If the female doesn't get a male to return with her soon then the pigeons may take over again. 

[irenekl]

Both male & female doves have been at the nest for just over an hour.  In and out, in and out.  If this is the pair of doves that first layed eggs there a few weeks ago (remember the ravens dumping them onto the ground) then I wonder if they think these are still their eggs??  They do seem less and less nervous about hanging out in the nestbox.

[birdcamfan]

Thank you. Everyday is another learning experience here!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Does anyone know-If this had been an endangered species such as a peregrine nest, at what point would the biologist have intervened and pulled the eggs out to artificially incubate? 

There are different rules about handling birds and eggs in the UK (for sure) and I believe in Europe.  When I was doing some falconry work in the UK a number of years ago, the rule was not to touch a wild bird because once handled, it couldn't be returned to the wild.  I don't know if this would apply for species-at-risk but incubating without a full set-up to feed and rehab without imprinting is required before one can even consider pulling eggs to incubate.  Most places don't have that kind of specialized facility/expertise and I don't know how easy it would be to arrange to get eggs across a border if a country nearby had that kind of facility.  I know that when Saskatchewan had huge floods on the piping plover grounds in 2005, they scooped and ran (literally) to save as many eggs as they could but they couldn't get them across the border to a plover breeding facility because of US security concerns (ques: how much of a security risk are 100+ unhatched plover eggs?).

So even if the species were "at risk", they still may not have been able to do anything about the eggs ...