Three Chicks and an Egg
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.
