Only two weeks ago, at the time of banding, our eyasses were nearly all white fluff. Now our three young are almost completely feathered. The male has only remnants of down, while the two females are still transitioning through the disheveled stage - feathers intermingled with fuzz. They are fun to watch. One minute they are snuggled together in the nest box; the next, they are shoving each other around in an effort to get to a parent with food first. They pick at scraps on the ledge and can feed themselves, yet they often play with prey remains rather than eating, or get the scraps caught in their talons and drag them around until they figure out how to shake them off. They run and hop up and down the ledge and furiously flap their wings, sending shed down flying.
Based on past years, we expect that the male will probably fledge this weekend. Though males are smaller than females, they develop faster and usually leave the nest first. Once they have their full powers of flight, the more agile males are the aerial acrobats, while the females are the power fliers. This tendency is obvious after just a few days on the wing, when the males swoop and dip at their lumbering female siblings, who are still concentrating on flapping from one perch to the next. The literature often says that peregrine young leave the nest 42- 45 days post hatching; this appears to be accurate for females, but the males often go before 40 days post hatch. It appears that temperament can be as much a factor as physical development in determining when they take wing - they go when they are ready, and only they know what triggers that first flight. They have a lot of challenges facing them at first flight. They have to learn to use their wings effectively before their feathers are completely grown, and they have to learn to land with sure feet. They have to learn to avoid reflective glass and many other dangers. But there's the whole world out there to explore, and all those birds to chase.
