Week Two in Review
The four chicks sleep sprawled out in the nest box after a recent meal.
5/10/26: The Richmond brood is now between 17 and 12 days old. The chicks seem to be keeping 59/BM and 95/AK busy based on the amount of prey items we’ve seen them deliver this past week (and subsequently the amount of feathers littering the floor of the nest box)! All of the chicks are fairly mobile and will regularly reposition themselves within the nest box, or approach the adults when a prey item is brought in. When not sleeping, the chicks can often be observed sitting upright, with pin feathers visible on the wings. The older three now have a thick layer of second down and the youngest is continuing to do well. While obviously smaller than the older siblings, it appears to be keeping pace developmentally and still getting plenty of food.
What should you expect in the next week?
Continued growth! Peregrines typically fledge between 40-44 days or so, and as such we can continue to expect the chicks to “grow like weeds” as we get closer to banding and fledging. Feather growth will also continue and we may even begin to see some facial feathers start to develop on the older chicks. Further, the brood will become more and more active as they continue to explore their surroundings and may be seen sleeping individually on warm days instead of in a pile. We might even see the first chick leave the nest box in the coming week, but if not that is almost sure to happen in the week following!