AKP 2017 cams discussion

It depends on weather oftentimes, but it seems nestlings begin to thermoregulate themselves around when their shoulder feathers begin growing in. Once they can keep themselves warm, the female stops roosting in the nest box - unless it's a particularly cold night.

I'll be curious to see tomorrow night. Sometimes it takes nestlings a bit to get flight-capable enough to fly up to a second-story nest box again after leaving.

Thanks for watching everyone! We'll see if these nestlings come back to roost and rest. Otherwise, into the big exciting world they go! I'll leave the cams up for if and when they come back.

From here on out, the nestlings will be cared for and fed by the adults until they can survive on their own. They become a little roaming pack, essentially, with the parents keeping an eye out while they hunt. By the time fall comes around, these four nestlings should be out on their own.

Thanks everyone for the kind words :)

They will be mostly gone, but they often return to the nest box at night especially, to use as a safe roost. From here on out, the kestrels will be learning how to hunt and fly, and the parents will continue to feed and take care of them until they get proficient at surviving on their own.

It is probably true that the 3 eggs are unviable. It is not uncommon for birds to simply lay eggs that do not hatch - perhaps they were not fertilized, perhaps something occurred with the embryo, it is hard to say! It is good that one hatched at least!

The other eggs will likely be mostly ignored until they break or are eaten by something. Birds of prey do not have a strong sense of smell, so that will likely be unnoticed. Often, unhatched eggs just present as some broken shells at the end of the season, after the nestlings are active and jumping all over from stregnthening flight muscles.