Tuesday Telling

 Breakfast at The PF Palace -

 Lord Waldo!

 My proclaimed Little Boy PF front left!

The latest post on The Falcon Wire - check out the link for some videos and more info!

5/11/2020  ::   Additional Growth Indicators

The young falcons have begun roaming out of the box exploring the ledge of the 15th floor. As they venture further from the nest box, notice the pumping of wings, known as winging, in preparation for fledging. Flight muscles are growing and strengthening as falcons begin winging, flapping, hovering, and then they eventually fledge. This generally occurs around Day 36 (today is Day 21). This can be a nerve-wracking time as they wander near the edge, but this is a key part of the preparation for their first flights. As the growth of the eyasses continues, further development can be followed by noticing these changes.

At day 28, the chicks are nearing the midpoint of their transition from down-covered chick to juvenile-plumaged fledgling and are nearly full-grown in terms of body size and weight. By day 29, the chicks often have their faces largely free of down, giving them a white-capped appearance. On their backs, the remaining down often appears to be clumped together in certain areas, with extensive areas instead revealing the dark juvenile feathers. It's often around day 30 that the chicks seem to turn into "real" peregrines almost overnight, very rapidly losing much of the down on their breast, thus revealing the heavily streaked breast feathers they will be carrying for the next year. By day 31, the chicks often become actively interested in losing their down, preening themselves and sometimes ending up with feathers stuck to their beak as a result. From the back they are looking increasingly dark, with the wing feathers approaching full length. By day 32, the patches of remaining down feathers are becoming restricted to the base of the legs, parts of the wings, and perhaps parts of the back, as well as the crown. They are also becoming increasingly vocal and active around the nest area, to the extent that the adults rarely visit except to drop off food for them. Approaching five weeks of age, the chicks are within a few days of taking flight for the first time, and the remaining down feathers are usually restricted to the lower back, lower legs, and crown.

On rare occasions, male peregrines may take flight as young as 35 days, which is possible since they are fully developed at this age. Usually they wait a few more days, until their wing muscles are stronger through exercise in the nest area, and generally by the time they do take flight they have lost the last tufts of down. At day 36, the chicks look almost like full-fledged juveniles. They spend much of their day flapping their wings, known as winging, which both strengthens their flight muscles and shakes loose some of the few remaining down feathers. At day 37, aside a tuft of down feathers remaining on the crown, peregrine chicks are fully developed and ready to take flight. Their next major change in appearance will be around one year of age, when they begin to molt and acquire their adult plumage as their feathers are replaced.

This information comes courtesy of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. The primary purpose of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation is to facilitate the recovery of endangered and threatened raptor species in Canada.

******

 Little and Lambie shared a tasty snack Saturday evening -

 Lambie wondered if this Little makes her butt look big?

My Monday local treat - a veggie pizza from Jim and Nena's in Manchester - OH SO GOOD - tomato slices, onions, black olives, mushrooms, and sweet pepper pieces - and yes, Little did get some bones - now to go have a bit more!

It was a somewhat productive Monday - went to MyGiant for some stuffs - good purchases and now I'm even more set - then some zzzzz time after enjoying my pizza - today will be a visit to Dawn's - their posted Tuesday soup of Creamy Tomato Basil caught my eye - and tongue!  

and yes...laundry

Happy Tuesday EvFURRYone!

H&K,

All Of Us At NAK's Khottage