Do the Eyas recognize Their Parents

[DoggyMom]

I was watching the live feed. The eyas were alone in the box and asleep or resting. Suddenly they 'woke' and started chirping. At the same time I heard a falcon near the nest. Soon there was Beauty in the nest box and the eyas quieted down. This made me wonder whether they recognize their own parents or would react to any nearby falcon.

[Dumpsterkitty]

I don't know.  For another falcon to get near a nest with eyases is almost unheard of.  The Montreal nest this year is a bit different in that the intruder was a regular at the nest, being the daughter from the prior year.

[Lord G]

Orphaned falcons have been fostered by other adults, or even raised by humans using falcon puppets to do the feeding.  At this stage of the game the eyases are only interested in eating; as long as there's a source of food the eyases don't care what it is-- whether their own parents, another falcon, or a hand puppet. 

Individual recognition probably isn't possible for the eyases at this stage of their development.  There is some evidence to suggest that they recognize individuals when they get older.  A recent study of birds (I don't believe they were falcons though) showed that they had individualized calls for each member of the family.  In effect, the members of the family had their own names.

In past years we've observed certain siblings showing a preference for hanging out together.  We also know that they can be separated for some time (a few weeks), then reunited and still recognize each other, as happened in 2001 and 2004.  So it seems likely that they can recognize individuals to some extent. 

[jeanne]

This is an interesting article about crows and facial recognition:

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/27/crowsrecognize-human-faces.html

[MAK]

Interesting.