Cathedral of Learning Falconcam 2016

[carly]

*sigh*   

[carly]

New blog up from Kate:

Yesterday morning we were excited that the first peregrine egg hatched at Pitt and looked forward to a second hatching later in the day.

At around 2:15pm the second egg hatched. Hope manipulated it, killed it, and fed it to the first chick.

This is not normal peregrine behavior.

Viewers were shocked and bewildered.  Many of you had questions but I was out of cell range for most of the day, unaware that it happened.

I have never seen this behavior before and don’t know why it occurred.  Here’s what we do know: Peregrines’ lives are very different from ours. Using our human yardstick to understand them — anthropomorphizing — really leads us astray.

I asked Art McMorris, the PA Game Commission’s Peregrine Coordinator, who viewed the archived footage and said the chick was alive but might not have been normal.  In all his years of dealing with peregrines, Art has never seen this before either.

Hope’s behavior was so unusual that there is no information on it.  Many of you speculated about it and asked “Is this why she did it?â€�  In almost every case my answer is “I don’t know.â€�

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/30/bewildering-birth-and-death/?platform=hootsuite

[Kris G.]

2nd hatch (actually 3rd) happened during night!

[Donna]

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/01/third-egg-hatched-all-is-well/?platform=hootsuite Kate's Blog

[carly]

Someone posted an interesting link on Kate's blog to this paper that discusses Brood Reduction by Infanticide in Peregrine Falcons.  Might be good to keep for future reference as well, worth a read.

http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic66-2-226.pdf

ps:  Warning, this is a scientific paper however the topic may be disturbing for some.

[MAK]

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/01/third-egg-hatched-all-is-well/?platform=hootsuite Kate's Blog

These birds know what they're doing even if we don't. We must take the bad with the good and keep learning. Sometimes we are too quick to judge what is happening before our eyes. I believe we shouldn't second guess nature as it does things differently than we do. 

[carly]

Viewers reporting the youngest baby has passed away.       No official confirmation as of yet though.

[Kris G.]

Viewers reporting the youngest baby has passed away.       No official confirmation as of yet though.

Shepherd had posted early this AM that Terzo stepped on it.  This site has had more bad luck in past few years..how sad for that baby. 

[Carol P.]

So sad. 

[Kris G.]

I just read that the baby was out of the scrape when Terzo stepped on it and it did move afterwards but is apparently deceased.

[carly]

Kate has a new blog up about it.

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/05/it-appears-that-c3-has-died/

[Donna]

Awe, not another one!! 

[Kris G.]

I am sick!  Hope fed the dead baby to the surviving eyas yesterday and just read on BCAW that Terzo's egg starting hatching and she fed that one to the eyas too!       This Falcon isn't right..tragic!

[patsy6]

This is a nightmare come true.   

[carly]

I'm going to bite my tongue (for a change  ), cause you know I'll get in trouble ... but just wow.  I stopped watching after she offed the first one.  Too old, too emotional to see that through.  I feel for everyone, this is just tragic.