Monday, May 18, 2020

2 Weeks Old

The 4 chicks in Columbus are progressing nicely. A lot has changed in just 2 weeks.
Everyone is eating well. You can see that in the below picture. All 4 chicks have full crops.



I had the opportunity to visit the ledge today to look at the chicks.
I received a report that one of the chicks was stuck on its back and could not get turned over. It was stuck similar to a turtle being flipped on its shell. Eventually, one of the adults intervened. We have video of the adult picking up the chick and turning it over.
https://www.facebook.com/columbusperegrinefalcons/videos/705634310196479/

At this stage there is a big difference in the chicks sizes and abilities. The chicks hatched a different times, so there are developmental differences in the things they do.
2 chicks (the first 2 to hatch) are very mobile, walking around on the ledge. A few times I witnessed one of the older chicks trying to stand upright.

The 2 younger chicks still spend a large amount of their time in the "nest" eating and sleeping a lot. This will change in a few days and they will become as mobile as the other 2. So when one of the younger chicks was stuck on it's back it needed a little help to get righted.