!!! Ther’re getting it!
June 02, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
CPF Postmaster Reports:
We received an update from Donna this afternoon in that she witnessed Kendal finally bringing in food to Quest on the nest ledge!!
While Kendal has been in overdrive hunting mode since their humble beginnings providing enough food to his mate to stock a small butcher shop, he has been a little “slow to the go” to bring the food directly into the nest ledge while Quest has been brooding mode.
In true male peregrine fashion while his mate has been incubating the egg(s), Kendal has been stockpiling the cache spots with mountains of fresh food,, and eventually figured out that he too must help out with the domestic duties and has been routinely assisting her with the incubation duties.
This “shift change”as we say, allows Quest to take a break from her incubation duties to stretch her wings and eat some of the food he’s been stashing for her. Up until now, Quest has not allowed food to be brought directly into the nest ledge,, (and for good reason)!
She instinctively knows that food on the nest ledge, (especially at this time now that there is a young hatchling in the nest), attracts unwanted scavengers and other predators, in addition to the various parasites that would be attracted to the nest ledge by the presence of food, so they rarely bring food directly to the nest ledge or eat on the nest ledge itself at this particular stage of the family rearing process.
Now that the egg has hatched, and a tiny new hatchling is present, the female becomes even more protective, as she must switch from egg incubation mode into brooding mode. She must now be extra careful to keep her new hatchling warm but not to hot, covered and concealed, but must be careful not to suffocate the young hatchling, and she must also be careful so as not to crush the tiny hatchling.
Until the hatchling(s) are much older, they can not regulate their own body temperatures, and a single hatchling does not have the benefit of other siblings to help stay warm.
As such, the adult female’s actions and routines change, as she is very cautious not to leave the young hatchling exposed to the elements or any un-wanted attention.
The male must also change his routine after the hatch when the chicks(s) are very small, in that he must bring food directly to his mate on the nest ledge so she can stay brooding and feed the young hatchling(s).
Over the past few days, Quest has allowed Kendal several opportunities to take a peak at his new family member, but has for the most parts been very guarded and only allowed him short supervised visits.
Most recently, she allowed Kendal a short ‘un-supervised” visit to the nest tray, but only after he didn’t respond quick enough to her demands to bring food to her on the nest ledge so she could feed the hatchling.
She was forced to leave the nest tray and the young hatchling alone with Kendal while she retrieved her own food. During this brief 2 to 3 minute encounter, Kendal was observed touching the hatchling several times with his beak and showed an intense curiosity. A very tender family moment indeed!!
Quest quickly returned to the nest ledge with food and Kendal was asked to leave! Quest proceeded to feed the young hatchling.
Stay tuned…………