3 nestlings at Pitt, only 1 at Gulf Tower

Dorothy feeds three nestlings at Pitt (photo from National Aviary webcam)

Here’s a “baby picture” from the University of Pittsburgh peregrine falcon nest this morning:  three little birds calling for food.

At the Gulf Tower it looks like only one of the five eggs produced a chick.  We’ll continue to look for another egg to hatch but that may be all for this year.

Last year Tasha hatched only two out of five eggs, probably due to her age.  We don’t know when she was born – she was unbanded when she arrived in 1998 – but she is at least 13 years old, not young for a peregrine.  Dr. Todd Katzner of the National Aviary remarked that senescence is common in raptors.  It’s not unexpected that they become less productive over the years.

(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at University of Pittsburgh)

14 thoughts on “3 nestlings at Pitt, only 1 at Gulf Tower

  1. AT around 7:00 p.m. on the 26th I watched what I thought was all three hatchlings being feed their dinner.It took about 10 minutes for the three of them to finish, then i saw the parent fly off with the remains.

  2. Noticed some shells on the Gulf Tower at around 6:10 pm that I did not see this afternoon, that she was now scooting away from her as I am typing this…Perhaps another hatchling..

  3. I thought Tasha only laid 4 eggs last year? I was also thinking the lack of chicks may be due to her likely advanced age. I don’t know really anything about avian reproductive genetics, but in humans there is a proven link between advanced maternal age (i.e. > 35 y/o) and increased risk of chromosomal trisomies. Perhaps the same phenomenon exists in birds. Yes, I’m a Human Genetics graduate student 🙂

  4. The sun set by the time I read your comments so I’ll have to wait until there’s enough light tomorrow to see if another egg hatched at Gulf Tower. If so, I will be happy – but embarrassed that she fooled me again!

  5. All four eggs have hatched at the Cathedral…I was watching Dorothy feeding the chicks a robin, and four distinct heads were visible

  6. WOW!! There are Four!! I just got a webcam photo and blew it up in Photoshop!
    I guess we weren’t expectign that!!

    Has anybody been able to tell yet, if any of Tasha’s other eggs have hatched yet?

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