And then there were three. This was the scene this morning. The picture below was taken yesterday. You can see that the more mature of the siblings still have downy white tufts sticking out, but they have started flapping out of the box. Sometimes they are out of camera range — investigating the rooftop at any rate. This stage goes quickly as I recall.
Go here to watch and don’t forget to contribute to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
Last month Peter Green, the urban wildlife photographer behind Providence Raptors, once again took part in the banding of the nestlings. This is a harrowing scene that involves helmets and frantic dive-bombing parents — he loves it. (Check out his 2017 Banding Day album.)
Green recently filled me in on the sexing of the nestlings, known as eyasses, and this is not an exact science. Official Audubon Society bander Joe Zybrowski checks out the birds as best he can, but there are no external parts, so sex is determined by size. Those three big nestlings we noticed from the start are females, while that “runt” is considered to be a smaller-than-average male. But he seems to be doing okay.
It’s such a joy to watch this every year. Thanks for the updates.