The Peregrine Fund announced this week that four American Kestrel eggs have hatched in the well-watched nest in Boise. It is the sixth year the birds have raised a family live on a webcam.
The female laid the first egg on March 27 and four other eggs slowly followed. Usually eggs are laid every other day but the Peregrine Fund says a storm slowed the process down this year. After some fits and starts, four of the five eggs hatched over the weekend.
The nest box, with web cameras inside and outside, can be found at the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in south Boise. For six years the Fund has streamed kestrel parents raising their chicks to thousands of viewers. This nest box has been home to 28 baby kestrels.
The babies start out the size of a large strawberry but quickly grow up. They will be old enough to fly after 30 days.
The kestrel is North America’s smallest falcon species.
Kestrel populations are on the decline and scientists aren’t sure why. The Peregrine Fund uses the webstream for education and outreach and encourages citizen scientists to put up their own nest boxes to help the species.
Watch the chicks as they pop out of their eggs!
Find Samantha Wright on Twitter @samwrightradio
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