Egg #2 Arrived on a Cold, Snowy Afternoon! 3/22/25
At 1:49 pm, Nova laid her (& Neander’s) 2nd egg! It was approximately 63 hrs since she laid her first egg.
This 2nd egg was very pale in color compared to the very dark red egg already in the nest box. Peregrine Falcon eggs can vary greatly in color from pale creamy to a deeper reddish-brown. They often have darker markings, including blotches or spots of brown, red or purple. We’ve had very light colored eggs before and they’ve successfully hatched.
Nova settled on the eggs and didn’t give us a good look at them until Neander entered the nest box to check on Nova and the new arrival.
If Nova lays a 3rd egg, it should be sometime early Tuesday morning. EGGWATCH #3 starts now! Keep watching!
Rochester Falcons Team member Dana made these two videos from our streaming video. Thanks so much Dana!
This first YouTube link is for the arrival of Egg #2.
This second YouTube link is for Neander’s First Visit.
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March 22nd, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Thank-you for the great report. I have also been remembering the very pale eggs that we worried about, needlessly.
I wonder what it is in the diet that affects the colors. I seem to recall that first eggs were usually darker than later ones. The pale one is pretty distinctive in its markings, so I imagine that we will be able to keep track of that one during brooding.
March 22nd, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Thank you Alison!
This was on a Virginia Dept of Wildlife website. “All eggs begin with white shells in the female’s reproductive tract. Once the eggs pass into the oviduct region, they receive their pigmentation, including any patterns.”