We have some hatchlings in our new Kestrel box. I have a trail cam monitoring activity and the first hatch appears to have happened on 6/17/21. I had an opportunity to check the box this morning (6/22) when the pair chased off a GHOW perched in the trees across from the box. We have 3 hatched chicks out of a clutch of 5 eggs. You can only see 2 heads in the photo below, but I did check and there are 3.
Question: How long after the first 3 have hatched will the 2 remaining eggs possibly hatch? Will the parents eventually remove unhatched eggs, or should I remove them the next time I can check the box??
Thanks!
Image:
Hi Earthbourne,
We have had 3 days span between hatching and we also have had all 5 eggs hatch in one day.
This year our 5th egg hatched the day after the 4 hatched. We have witnessed this type of hatching over the last 10+ years and hatching may vary. It is illegal to remove or touch the eggs ( check with your local authorities ). Nature will deal with the unhatched eggs.
Link to KESTREL KORNER for mor information and 2 camera HD live stream. There is a wealth of info on this page.
http://www.nu-sun.com/html/kestrel_korner.html
Our nestlings will be banded on June 25/2021 in the am.
Have a good day,
Nu-Sun Cinema Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Nu-Sun pretty much covered it, but we'll chime in as well. We've heard reports of up to several days between the hatching of the first egg and the final (like Nu-Sun's above), so we wouldn't give up hope just yet, but it is starting to look unlikely the final two eggs will hatch. It is illegal to remove eggs from an active nest, so they should be left where they are. They won't cause any issues for the adults or nestlings. If the eggs are still there when you clean your box out this winter, they can be removed then and disposed of.
And a question for you: would we be allowed to use these photos for our social media or printed materials? We'd credit you any time the photos were used. The nestlings in particular are absolutely adorable.
Matthew
AKP Staff
Thank you Nu-Sun and Matthew for your replies! I'll leave the unhatched eggs alone.
Matthew, you certainly may use any photos I post here for any use you like. I'm sure I'll be posting more before the nesting season is over, so you may use any of those, too.
Thank you so much, and we look forward to any additional shots you're able to grab! Should we credit you as "earthbourne" or would you like us to use your real name? We'd need you to send it to us if so. If you'd rather not post it publicly you can send it to us via email at kestrelpartnership@peregrinefund.org.
Matthew
AKP Staff
You can use my real name, Becky Lyle.
Will do. Thanks again for sharing your photos!
Matthew
AKP Staff