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What’s Happening at the Nest?
One of the falcon chicks ventures outside of the nest box.
It may be hard to believe but the trio of falcon chicks downtown are almost four weeks old! Primary feathers can now be easily detected on the chicks as they develop along the chick’s wings and will soon be followed by the emergence of body feathers which will give the chicks a more mottled-looking appearance. In addition to feather development, the chicks have begun exploring their surroundings outside of the nest box. As the trio of birds become increasingly mobile and better able to walk around, they may wander off camera for several hours at a time, or even spend the night off camera. This is a normal part of peregrine falcon chick development and has taken place in past years with other broods. There are several other sheltering opportunities along the ledge, and viewers should not become overly concerned if they are not able to detect the chicks on camera as reliably as they used to. Further, the parents will continue to watch over the chicks and provide them with prey items.
Considering their age, it also means banding is just around the corner. Pending no inclement weather, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources biologists plan on visiting the Riverfront Plaza building on Tuesday, May 27th to band the falcon chicks. This will be an incredibly exciting year for us, as we will be accompanied by the winners from our first ever Falcon Banding Day Raffle. We want to extend our thanks to everyone who supported our wildlife conservation work by purchasing a ticket and our congratulations to the winners who have already been notified by DWR staff. Read the rest of this post…
The nest box is a lot more active than it was a week ago thanks to the addition of Richmond’s three newly hatched peregrine falcon chicks! At this point, the chicks have almost doubled in size relative to when they hatched, are sitting up and remaining stable, and opening their eyes. But developing so fast takes a lot of energy, so viewers should still expect to see them spending most of their time sleeping and being brooded by one of the adults.
It has been roughly five days since the first chick hatched and as such we do not expect the remaining egg to hatch. On average, all eggs within a four-egg clutch typically hatch within one to two days’ time. While hatches taking up to eight days have been observed in peregrine nests, this is an incredibly uncommon occurrence and therefore it is unlikely that the final egg will hatch. A host of factors, including infertility, weather, and contaminants may have resulted in this egg being ‘addled’. Unhatched peregrine falcon eggs generally remain in the nest or become cracked and broken during the course of chick rearing. If the unhatched egg is still intact at the time of banding in roughly three-four weeks, it will be collected and may be tested for contaminants.
The female feeds her three newly hatched chicks.
4/26 update at 11:36 AM: A third chick hatched overnight at around 11:30 PM on 4/25. Several meals have been delivered to the chicks since this third hatch.
4/25 update at 12:14 PM: A second chick hatched overnight between 4/24 and 4/25. Both chicks appear to be doing well and received their first meal just before noon on 4/25.
We are happy to report that the as of 5:22 PM on Thursday, April 24th the first falcon chick has hatched. When a chick starts hatching, the first sign is a pip — which is the initial hole the chick makes in its egg. At least one, if not two, of the other eggs are currently pipping and as such we hope to have more chicks in the nest soon.
The act of hatching is a long and energetically demanding process for chicks, as they use an egg tooth (a small knob on top of their bill) to repeatedly peck and push into the pip in the egg, creating a large enough crack that they can eventually break through. This hammering is an exhausting process requiring the chick to take several rests throughout hatching. Overall, the entire process usually takes anywhere from 12 to 18 hours, but in some extreme cases it can take upwards of 72 hours. After the chick has finally hatched, it no longer needs its egg tooth, which falls off several days after its emergence from the egg.
Immediately after hatching, chicks are damp with lots of bare, pink skin exposed. However, within just a few short hours, they dry out taking on a much fluffier appearance due to their white, downy plumage which covers most of their body. Newly hatched falcons weigh approximately 30–40 grams (1.25 ounces) when they first hatch and are unable to fully thermoregulate (maintain core body temperature) for the first two weeks of life. This means the parents will continue to spend time on the nest “brooding” the chicks after they hatch and incubating the remaining eggs.
We will continue to closely monitor this new chick and hope to see the other eggs hatch soon! Read the rest of this post…
- Read more updates in the archive…
Internet service to the Falcon Cam provided courtesy of Comcast Business.
The DWR Falcon Cam follows the breeding season of a peregrine falcon pair that nests in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The nest box is located atop the Riverfront Plaza building. If you’re in the area, look up! You may catch a glimpse of the famous birds! We hope each year that the pair will once again choose to nest at this site, so that our camera may provide an educational experience for all to enjoy.