Falcon Chick Springs Forward!

Contributed by Bruce Connery, Biologist, National Park Service.

Spring is edging closer to summer with each day and the chick is marking these days with amazing changes in development and growth. Almost three weeks have passed since hatching, and the slow changes witnessed in the beginning will soon be replaced with big daily changes in movements, behavior, and development. It helps to be the sole focus of your parent’s attention and to have been blessed with good weather this spring for Maine’s coastal areas. The eruption of feathers will become more and more apparent, beginning first along the wings and tail followed by the back and head and eventually everywhere. Soon the young chick will begin to actively take food from its parents and feed itself, matched with small forays around the scrape with bursts of wing flapping and hopping. All signs of a rapidly developing young falcon.

The witnessed changes on the developing chick suggest it is doing fine and suggests to biologists that the best time to enter the scrape to collect information is approaching. The chick’s development serves as a guide in determining the correct dates to collect the data and permanently mark the chick with identification bands with a minimal risk to both the chick and the adults. The bands provide a permanent tracking tool that is visible and not burdensome, allowing managers and anyone the opportunity to re-identify the bird throughout its lifetime without the need for additional handling by humans that is likely to be both stressful and an opportunity for injury. At this time, the unhatched eggs also will be collected as they will provide valuable information to biologists interested in learning of any embryo development and what contaminant burdens are present through chemical analyses. Combined, the results of these data will provide an inside view of some of the factors facing the adults and the young chick, being valuable information to biologists and managers trying to identify factors and conditions that are or can threaten these birds and their habitats.

Explanations of why only one egg hatched are abundant. The use of an artificial platform, or tray, as a scrape at this site is not unusual to falcon pairs in New England, as many have been documented throughout this region. However their use is less typical for most of the nesting territories found in Maine and for much of northern New England. Appropriately positioned trays often provide excellent nesting conditions on buildings and towers with their suitably-sized pea gravel substrate, superb drainage, and correct orientation to weather conditions. However, Maine and other northeastern states are blessed with numerous natural cliff faces that are found above rivers, lakes, coastal headlands, and on near shore islands. These natural cliff faces provide ample opportunities for peregrine adults to be highly selective in choosing the sites with the best drainage, protection from the elements, access and visibility, and foraging opportunities.

Bruce Connery
Biologist
National Park Service