RED-TAILED HAWK CAM UPDATE

Well, the Red-tailed hawklets featured on the Cornell webcam (see April 6 blog entry) are a bit over a month old (34 days, I think) and have changed beyond imagining!  Birds grow so fast.  Compare the picture of day 2 with today's pictures! (All pictures were captured on my iPhone as screen shots from the live video coverage of Cornell University's Hawk Webcam.) 

Day 34?

Day 2

 

Amazing what mother nature can do!!!  I find it interesting that the chicks look so much like bald eagles; bald eagle young DON'T look like this.

Day 34? Trying out wings (screen shot from Cornell webcam)

It is really windy today, and the bird closest to us (above pix) was flapping its wings - strengthening them in the wind to prepare for fledging.

This next shot is the mother, who is called Big Red, and the three chicks sharing a starling.  It was really interesting, one of the parent birds, I don't remember which, came in with a starling (there is a nest in a pipe right behind where mom is standing) and dropped it. The bird who is furthest away in the top picture clambered over the other two and grabbed the starling.  Mom reached in and took it away and started eating it.  The chastised young-un stood back and waited (reminds me of training our dog... pack leaders eat first!).  Then Big Red started giving the now polite chick some pieces.  The other two stayed in the background.  Eventually the first chick felt satisfied and the other two came forward and in this shot, they are both pulling on what is left of the starling.

Day 34? - mom (Big Red) and the three chicks having a starling lunch (screen shot from Cornell webcam)

If you haven't checked out the incredible work of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and you are interested in birds, you must take a look!  AllAboutBirds.org is an incredible (free) resource, and the Birds of North America website (which you have to pay to have access to) has much more detailed and scientific information.  You can link to the webcams from AllAboutBirds.org and there are webcams for the Red-tails, a Great Blue Heron (whose eggs have started hatching!) and two Ospreys.

Always more fun to see live, but when there isn't a nest in viewing range, the webcams are a terrific alternative!!