Hatching

This photo was taken several years ago when I had to clear some twine out of a nest. They are one week old Osprey chicks.

Once again all the field work takes so much time I do not get around to posting info for people to read. The chicks are beginning to hatch and I have been able to see chicks already on a few nests. They usually are not visible until they are at least one week to ten days old. I have seen their tiny beaks reaching up for food and some sibling rivalry, establishing the "pecking order", literally! There is a phase when they do peck at each other and determine the dominant chick and subordinate chicks. This order is usually followed during feedings. I have never seen siblicide, but it has been reported in the literature. Ospreys are generally not very aggressive birds and most Osprey chicks do survive the sibling rivalry. There are so many interesting behaviors at this time. Today I noticed one male was sitting on the nest perch, with a perch! He was eating, but he stopped every few bites and looked at the female sitting in the nest...checking for a signal that she wanted food. She sat quietly for a while and then she stood up and he went to the nest immediately with his fish. Oddly, she picked up a whole fish off the nest and flew off...but returned very quickly without the fish. I believe she was discarding an old fish. ( This male must be a very good provider if they are discarding fish!)  She then took the fresh fish from the male and began taking small bites and leaning into the nest cup and offering it to the chicks. I could not see the chicks, but this is how we can determine that hatching has occured, by observing this feeding behavior. The male sat on the nest edge and watched, staring into the nestcup. Now incubating turns to brooding, and the difference can be hard to determine. I have seen so many hatches for 19 years that I do get a sense of what is going on quite quickly...the restlessness, rocking and wiggling of the female, a slight change in the body posture, staring down as she sits, getting up part way to peek beneath. The male will often stand on the nest edge waiting for a look at the chicks. This morning as I was waiting for a clue from one female, she stood up and carefully picked up  a beautiful half of an osprey eggshell and moved it to the side! So, we have more Ospreys than we did a week ago! Yeah!

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