Bird Cams Around the World

Thanks for posting the pictures, Ethel. I also just saw that information about the genders on the Facebook page.

2 boyz n 2 gurlz!

Red Girl is in the box right now conducting a feeding. Before the feeding began, one chick looked like it was sporting either blue or green tape on its right band. One chick doesn't appear to be interested in the food at the moment.

All four chicks out in plain sight right now. There's a pretty good sized piece of prey in the box, and one of the chicks is working on it. Not sure how much it's getting.

Red Girl just finished a feeding a little while ago. I thought I could see red tape on the first chick she was feeding, which liked like a female to me. After a bit, the second female came out of the corner to be fed. She is huge, and looked almost as big as Red Girl herself.

Red Girl was in the box a bit ago conducting a medium sized feeding. Again, I thought I could see red tape on what looks to me like a female. The other one that looks like a female might have blue or green tape. Hard to tell. One male wasn't interested in the food, but appears to be quite full already.

Pretty sure it was one of the girls standing as tall as it could possibly stand trying to take a look out over the ledge. It's too soon for them to get up there, I think/hope. Could see one of the adult's feet on the ledge for a bit, but now gone.

Red Girl appeared in the box a bit ago. She did not have food, and was being chased all over the place by the chicks. She hopped up on the ledge and vanished. Chicks are very active at the moment. Those emerging feathers grew overnight!

Great pictures, Ethel. These chicks seem to be SO polite with their feedings.

Orange yellow-billed cuckoo feather visible in the box now.

GREAT pictures, Ethel. Although I seldom catch a feeding, Red Girl's chicks seem so polite and sharing with the food. NOT so in Harrisburg. We have one chick that is surely a female who is quite dominant. Yellow-billed Cuckoo was on the menu in Harrisburg on Monday. I'd love to know how far out males go to hunt.

Red Girl's first nesting attempt failed when the incumbent male, Caesar, disappeared after the eggs were laid, forcing Red Girl to leave them uncovered in the cold to feed herself. I heard that Caesar's body was later found at a shopping center, Prices Corner, about four miles from the nest box. Obviously he had flown that far out to hunt before his mishap.

Derek Ratcliffe (The Peregrine Falcon, pp.164-165) cites literature indicating that most prey is caught within 1 1/4 mile of the nest but states that hunting ranges "are likely to cover a radius of up to at least 16 km (9 1/2 miles)" from the nest. Telemetry has shown that Prairie Falcons range at least 15 miles from their nesting cliff in search of prey. Id.

That is interesting information, Greg. Thanks. I think of cuckoos as nesting where it's more wooded than any place close to Harrisburg or Wilmington. And thanks for the pictures, Ethel. Those feathers are really growing in!

It is rather heavily wooded down by the Brandywine, and areas towards the River. I go by there a lot on Parts runs and always look over hoping to see something in the air.

WOW...4 at one time...

Great shot.

Right now, at least one of the kids is up on the box ledge. Another (looks like a big robust girl) is looking up at him.