|
Hatching and growth
|
The Courier-Mail thanks Environmental Protection Agency
officers for their help in ensuring that Frodocam will not
disturb Frodo's family.
For
more information about our amazing wildlife, please visit
their site.
 |
During the incubation period, which lasts about 36 days, the
female will sit on the eggs during the night and most of the
day. The male returns to the nest with food, although he
occasionally looks after the eggs for short periods during the
day to allow the female to hunt for herself.
During the final days of incubation the female does not leave
the eggs.
Peregrine chicks develop very quickly, an important attribute
given they are invariably raised on precarious ledges hundreds
of metres above the ground.
Week one: When first born, the chicks are bundles of
white fluff with oversized feet. They merely wobble around in
the nest, are fed several times a day by their parents and begin
attempting to preen.
Week two: The chicks become more demanding and both
adults leave the nest to hunt for food to satisfy their hunger.
Week three: The white fur begins disappear and black
markings develop.
Week four: By this time the ravenous chicks have
ballooned to the same weight as their parents. They are strong
enough to roam the nest site but are still clumsy and are not
ready to attempt flight yet.
Week five: The chicks begin moving around a lot more
and start to flap their wings. At this stage their parents stop
actively feeding them and, instead, drop carcasses on to the
nest ledge to allow the chick to feed themselves.
Week six: The babies are finally ready to fly the
nest. After a great deal of time spent running along the edges
of the nesting area furiously flapping their wings, they finally
launch themselves into the wide blue yonder. Sadly, studies
indicate 60 and 80 per cent of peregrine falcons will die while
they are still chicks, with many killed after plunging to the
ground during their first clumsy attempts at flight.
Literature on the falcons indicates survival rates are often
higher when the birds nest in urban areas because chicks with
broken wings and legs are usually rescued and nursed back to
health.
Weeks six to twelve: the young falcons stay around the
nest for up to six weeks after fledging, learning to fly and
hunt effectively before leaving to begin their own lives. The
birds reach sexual maturity at two years and can live as long as
20 years. |
