When you look at the photo above, it’s almost hard to tell who the parent is, vs the child in our falcon nest.
Acadia, our Peregrine Falcon has been raising her two chicks, called Eyeasses, and they are both growing and doing well. Acadia keeps guard over her babies around the clock. The male does bring food home to the family as well.
So far as I’ve been watching the FalconCam, the early days and most scary are over; or are they? We no longer have to worry about an egg breaking. Now, we have to worry about another bird flying into the nest, or fighting off other predators that might try to get the eyasses for food.
From what I’ve been reading, the Eyasses probably are getting close to leaving the nest. Right now, they still have their white feathers, but according to the DNR, the chicks usually leave the nest after about 30 days.
I didn’t realize that Peregrine Falcons are strictly carnivores, and feed on other flying prey like ducks, pigeons, and pheasants. Once these chicks do leave the nest; if they are able to make it, they can live approximately 15 years or so.
You can see that the white fluffy down is starting to be replaced with feathers, so I’m expecting these chicks to look a lot different in just a couple of days. So far, this has been a wonderful story; unlike the sadness we experienced when our eagle parents lost their only chick when their nest fell out of a tree.
If you want to keep an eye on the falcons and see them fly away, you should be tuning in every day by clicking HERE.