BREEDING SEASON: REPRODUCTION AGE:
As a rule, male Peregrines are sexually mature after three years and females after two. However, some males are fertile after two years and some females in their first year. MATING AND COURTSHIP:
From mid-January to the end of February or mid-March, when the eggs are laid, it is possible to watch the spectacular courtship displays of Peregrines. These involve a series of behavioural interactions whose objective is to reaffirm the pair bonds. Both members of the pair chase each other across the breeding territory, and dive from heights.
Pair of Peregrines mating
Another typical behavioural trait is the male's offers of "presents" to the female. These are prey which he has just caught which he passes to the female in mid-flight or drops from a great height so that she can snatch them up before they hit the ground.
When the male and female are in their nest during this period, they "greet each other" by bowing their heads and emitting a characteristic "tic" sound. This is as to inhibit their natural aggressiveness, typical of raptors. Just before the eggs are laid, the female sits in the nest, adopts the same posture as a chick and asks the male for food. He responds by offering her morsels.
They mate frequently throughout this period - whenever the female accepts - which she does by bowing her head and upturning her tail. If she doesn't respond in this way, the male gives up.
THE NEST:
Peregrines do not build a nest in the literal sense of the word, that is, when they prepare it they do not collect any material (branches, leaves, etc.). The nest, as such, consists of a small depression -measuring 10 to 20 cm in diameter and 1 to 8 cm deep- dug out by both members of the pair. The pair often digs out several depressions in different sites in the breeding territory and the female chooses at the last moment in which to lay her clutch.
CHRONOLOGY OF AN EGG AND CHICK UNTIL ITS FIRST FLIGHT
EGGS:
Egg-laying takes place from the end of February until mid-March. The Peregrine's egg is spherical, measures 52 x 41 mm and is creamy pink with red spots, giving it an earthy shade. The clutch is normally made up of 3 or 4 eggs and, more rarely, 1, 2 or 5. The female lays each egg at intervals of 48-72 hours. If the first clutch is lost 8-12 days after being laid, the female can lay a second clutch.
Peregrine eggs
INCUBATION:
Incubation lasts for 28 to 30 days and generally begins once the last but one egg has been laid. Both the male and female incubate the eggs, though most of the work is done by the female, with the male contributing a maximum of 30 % of total incubating time. This said, the male is in charge of hunting for the female while she incubates the clutch.
HATCHING:
Once the incubation period is complete, the chick punctures the egg shell and within a few hours breaks out. The whole process is slow, with the last egg hatching 48-72 hours after the first.
CHICKS:
Once the chicks have hatched, the male stays less in the nest and it is mainly the female which feeds and keeps their offspring warm. The male deals with finding food for all the family and, in order to ensure there is enough, also stores up some of the prey he captures. The baby Peregrines are fed every 2 to 3 hours. The adult gently passes the food to the beak of the chick, which immediately gobbles it down. While one chick is swallowing the food, the adult repeats the operation with the other, and so on successively, ensuring that all the chicks get the same amount, and thus avoiding substantial differences in their growth.
The chicks are born with white down feathers which after 5 or 6 days is replaced by a longer, thicker down. The first down feathers are so thin that the chicks need the heat of their mother so they don't die of cold. Because of this, for the first two weeks of life, the female covers them with her body in the same way as she did with the eggs. After three weeks, the first flight feathers begin to grow through the second down feathers. After 30 days, the chicks begin to gradually lose their second down feathers and, after 35-40 days, their juvenile plumage has grown, which they keep for their first year.
Chicks with down feathers
The fledgling chicks take their first flight between 40 and 50 days old. Males usually fly between 3 and 6 days before females. The first flights are faltering as their flight feathers are still not totally grown. They gradually perfect the different flight skills and begin to hunt their first prey with the help of their parents. By the end of June they can fend for themselves but do not leave their parents' territory for several weeks. Some young birds stay in the same territory where they hatched for a few more months, until well into the winter.
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