Kris G. wrote:
He stepped on the egg and baby while grabbing the food!
I just hope he doesn't take the food to Pigott. Shouldn't he be incubating the eggs while there?
Very strange but he is young and inexperienced.
Falcons step on their kids alot...they have big feet and the kids are pretty tough so not to worry. First time dads are also nervous and sometimes a bit clueless
As for the food, the baby doesn't require much food at this point. Remember, if it was early spring - we would never have seen as much of this kid as we have at this early age. For the first 10 days they can't thermoregulate so mom and dad would keep them covered right up all the time, save for meal times and those are quite short at this age. Right now it's quite balmy out there so no threat to kids or eggs if they're not covered a few minutes during the day.
I doubt he'd take the baby's food to pigott as the season for P and DC is pretty much closed now - they only hunt for the female during courtship, breeding and incubation time however once that window is closed it's rare to see the male bring the female food - they're on their own at that point. That doesn't mean they aren't still bonded, it just means outside the breeding season they hunt for themselves.
Parents are also very careful not to keep food in the nestbox if it's not needed as it attracts predators..ie: vultures.
That all being said - even though DotCa has 2 mates - the little one is his priority now, he will hunt for it and die protecting it. That's what they are hard wired to do..same for Beauty.
A week ago, DC brought Pigott food, they are seen and heard echupping often when he's with her in their scrape and he has been seen mating with her twice in the last week so I don't think the season for them is quite closed yet. Having watched Kaver and Archer, I know that they do step on the kids but it's always a worry-especially when he was in such a hurry to get out of there. I know about the food not being kept in the scrape but it appeared she had brought some for the baby. I didn't understand him taking it. I know it's warm here-80 today-and that the eggs can be left uncovered for a few minutes but he had always incubated before-just thought it was strange he didn't. My one concern is that while he's with pigott that he's not DT defending the territory. I really dislike the 2-mate thing-not good but that's my opinion. Seems like someone suffers, be it the babies or mate, but nothing can be done because it is nature. All we can do is sit back and watch.
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