CORRECTION

I recieved the following two e-mails this evening......

From Kanit Cottrell-

"I checked in on the WAMU chicks just in time to see the adult leave and get a good look at the scrape. It appears the dead eyass is in the scrape right next to the egg. Very curious. I don't know how to take a picture, but the time is 1944- 45."

From Barb Livdahl-

"Hello - tonight on the webcam at 7:48 p.m. (Tuesday, 5.26) it appears that the dead eyass is still in the nest as well as the addled egg. "

So the dead eyass was NOT removed from the nest ledge as I had reported earlier. My apologies for this mistake.

Thanks to Kanit and Barb for the correction.

Dead Eyass Removed

Michelline reports the following.....

"Hi Bud,
Please see attached (photo) @ 11:14 The dead eyass has been removed.
The two eyasses are fine, handsome and healthy."

Thanks again to the many people out there watching and reporting back to us.

This from Ruth Taylor....

FYI from Ruth...

"I stopped by the monitor on my way to the bus last night and was able to confirm that one eyass was dead. The female was brooding the others and had her back to me, but it was lying on the gravel outside her feathers. We’ve been down this road before, but it was still sad to see it.

I wonder if this is the same situation as in the Stewart and Bell years, when eyasses died of unknown causes a few days after hatching in 1997 (1), 1998 (2), and 2001 (1).

When I checked the monitor earlier yesterday afternoon, she was feeding two young that appeared healthy and active. This morning she was preening with a view of the eyasses blocked by her fluffy feathers."

Comments on the Death of the Third Chick

We have had quite a flurry of e-mails regarding the death of the third chick and the presence of the fourth addled egg, so I thought that I should respond to them here on the blog.

When we first set up the web-cam at WAMU back in 1994, we knew that we were going to get a unique and intimate view of the nesting cycle of a pair of wild adult peregrines.

And we actually got way more than we could have ever imagined. As a long-time peregrine biologist, I witnessed amazing things that I had never seen before. Stuff like Bell literally yanking one of her hatchlings roughly out of the egg, an egg being rolled off the ledge, and, yes, even the deaths of several eyasses over the years from a variety of causes.

So this "window" onto their lives is wonderful, touching, educational, inspiring and absolutely fascinating. But it is also unvarnished, uncensored and honest. In short, it is real life. This is what really happens to peregrines in the wild. And you are seeing it exactly as it unfolds.

It is not known exactly how many peregrines die in their first year but estimates run as high as 50-90%. Life is very hard on these birds. It is unforgiving, tough and highly selective. And that mortality begins even before the eggs are all laid. For example, a few eggs are dead (addled) even as they are laid. Some eggs die during incubation, especially if they get wet.

Newly hatched eyasses may die from exposure. Older eyasses die from bacterial infections (as we witnessed last year) or from parasites carried by pigeons.

Fledglings in cities regularly run into windows and die during their early forays. Bridge peregrines are often known to fall into the water below and drown on their first flights.

But that is how it has always been. What you are all witnessing are the forces that shape peregrines in real life. Cold, wet weather kills both eggs and chicks. We have seen this for many years now, both at the urban sites and in the 20 pair San Juan Islands breeding population.

During every April and May, whenever it rains torrentially and the temperatures drop, I automatically start thinking "There goes another peregrine egg or chick".

So the take home message here is that every peregrine that makes it through all of this is a treasured gem of a bird that has evaded all of those pitfalls in life and will hopefully make it to breeding age itself. As you begin to realize what they have made it through, you gain a much deeper, more three dimensional appreciation of what these falcons really are.

For me, they are nothing short of miraculous.

Finally, what will happen to the dead chick and the egg? The chick will likely be removed by one of the adults soon. It will be carried away and "cached" somewhere on the Tower. That is what happened to one of the dead chicks last year.

And the unhatched egg? We will be dropping down to the ledge to band the chicks in early June. If it is still there, we will collect it, weigh and measure it, blow out the contents and place them in a sterile sample jar for possible analysis in the future and archive the egg.

Or alternatively, the egg will somehow be broken on the ledge (most likely by one of the youngsters kicking it around), nibbled to bits by an adult or young and then lost gradually into the gravel.

It is always a race to see if we can retrieve the addled egg off the ledge in time. We generally lose.

Update on the WAMU Young

As of this afternoon, we have one addled egg, one dead chick and two live and healthy chicks at Washington Mutual.

Ruth Taylor reports that we lost the youngest and smallest chick last night. For those of you watching this site for the first time, this might seem a terrible loss and you would be right, it is.

NOTE: Correction from Tom Montgomery

"I note that the blog says that the chick died “last night.” If you record these things in hours rather than days, I am confident that the chick was dead several hours before I wrote you at 5:25 last night (below) – I just wasn’t sure enough to report it to you until 5:25. So, if you have a log in hours rather than days, it sadly was gone at least by 2:30 p.m. yesterday, if not sooner. " Thanks for the clarification Tom.

However, as one gains more experience in looking at the nesting cycle of this remarkable species, one learns that many unfortunate events befall the chicks, often right after hatching.

In the early years at WAMU, we often lost eggs or young during the normal course of events. In fact, Bell even kicked her very first egg off the ledge by accident. It fell several stories and was smashed. But she was a "new mom" and had never even seen a peregrine egg before. She just did not know exactly how to behave.

This is certainly one of the most vulnerable times in the life of a peregrine. They are completely dependent on their parents for food and warmth, just like many other vertebrates. And warm they must remain.

Since this has been one of the wettest months ever for May, we had worried about the third chick staying warm enough and getting his full share of food.

But he was such a tiny guy (likely a smaller male) that he was just not able to keep up and thus simply perished on the ledge.

Among peregrines, this is not unusual, particularly in a cold and wet year.

Yes, there are three chicks in the box......

To answer your questions, there are three peregrine chicks in the box at this time.

However, we would like to determine if there is a fouth nestling there as well or just an addled egg.

If you happen to get a clear view, please let me know at bud@frg.org.

Thanks and enjoy...

Second Chick Hatches

For those of you that haven't seen them as yet, there is now a second chick or eyass in the nest box.

We are expecting hatching to continue soon among the remaining two eggs.

Chase Bank has kindly provided a monitor screen in the bank lobby at Third and University. If you happen to go by there, please let them know that you appreciate their efforts.

Hatching Confirmed at WAMU

One of our dedicated viewers, Michelline Halliday, sent me an e-mail confirming that the first egg had hatched late last night.

Here is her report.....

"Hi Bud,
Hatchling confirmed at 00:19 Wednesday 5/13. The little bird hatched 23:20 Tuesday 5/12.
Michelline"

Great observation and we all appreciate it.

Thanks Michelline.

Eggs About Ready to Hatch

The four peregrine eggs are just about ready to hatch so keep watching.

It can be very difficult to see the hatchlings when they first come out but you will notice that the adults will begin feeding them almost immediately.

They have been listening to the sounds that the chicks make before they hatch. So both adults know that hatching is imminent.

Peregrines do not bring food to the ledge during incubation, presumably to reduce any potential bacteria from harming the eggs. They always take the food and eat it somewhere elsewhere.

So you will know right away when a chick has hatched when an adult brings in food. And if you are lucky enough to see this occur, please let me know at bud@frg.org. I'd appreciate it.

In past years, we have had all four eggs hatch in a single 18 hour period. In other years, hatching has been separated by several days. It all depends on how fast the embryos have developed.

The incubation period is not set in stone. It can vary considerably depending on a number of factors such as temperature, humidity and when incubation began.

Being Patient

As we watch the two adults putting in so much time incubating their four eggs, we can think about how incubating eggs is the result of lightening up airframes.

As large, long-lived social mammals, we have the luxury of carrying our developing young (usually one at a time) within our bodies. We call this pregnancy of course.

Falcons don't have this advantage because they fly. To fly, they must obviously maintain a very light weight. There is no way they could ever carry four eggs inside. So they must develop their young externally and away from the body (incubation) in the form of large eggs produced one at a time. This all involves a nest site, a scrape in the soil or gravel, shared incubation duties for a long period of time by both adults and ultimately, the hatching process.

So keep in mind that small falcons are assembling within those reddish-brown eggs right now. Eyes are developing, skeletons, feather follicles, and talons are all taking form cell by cell. It all takes time.

But they will all be thrust out into the wide world very soon now....