Blog # 328 And then there were three

 Blog # 328 And then there were three 

June 1, 2021 

Ophelia, Orpheus, and their three hatchlings 2, 4, and 7 days old. 

And then there were three: three little bobbing heads with three wide mouths gaping.  Ophelia and Orpheus won the trifecta yesterday after 33 days of incubation—one day  earlier than expected. Last year, the third egg was inviable and remained in the nest for  weeks as a sad reminder of what could have been. This year’s three little fluff balls have  a grand future in store—they will inherit the wind. Once they grow feathered wings they  will know the freedom of the sky. The ancient secrets of flight combined with the  Osprey’s outstanding angling skills have long been coveted by humans. 

In semi-altricial species like Osprey, asynchronous hatching gives the first chicks to  leave the egg a head start at begging for food and successfully attracting parental  attention. Ornithologist David Lack viewed the evolution of asynchronous hatching as a  parental strategy for raising the largest number of offspring that food resources will  allow when the abundance of food for the chicks cannot be predicted at the time that  eggs are laid. The matching of offspring number with food availability is thus achieved  by means of brood reduction: with asynchronous hatching, the smallest chick or chicks  only survive in years of abundant food. 

Dominance hierarchies are found in most raptor broods. The eldest, largest sibling  maintains its dominance over the others. In this year’s Salt Point nest chick #1, the 

Ophelia and the three well-camouflaged hatchlings 2, 4, and 7 day s old. 

eldest and biggest, was observed butting heads with and pecking its two siblings as  Ophelia doled out pieces of fish. Pecking like this is normal: when food is scarce, it  assures the strongest offspring survives. plentiful.  

This year’s siblings did just that this morning, and it’s clear that the larger, stronger chick  #1 will dominate the others. With only two chicks in last year’s brood, the order of  dominance was clear. I had not seen any outright aggressive sibling behavior this year  until this morning when chick #1 attacked the youngest, chick #3 for no obvious reason.  It then hit chick #2 in the head a few times. Since food is not scarce, this aggression is  clearly to establish a dominance hierarchy. 

Adults rarely interfere in sibling hierarchies, letting the siblings work out their own order.  If nestlings are very aggressive, the youngest can be badly injured or killed, but this  usually occurs during serious food shortages. In this way, brood reduction is their way of  favoring the offspring with the best chances of survival. 

With five mouths to feed the young, Orpheus has to keep up his fishing. Just after  daybreak, he brought a good sized perch, enough to feed the whole family. The second  fish of the day turned out to be a large gold and black koi—more than enough fish for  the family. Orpheus has to keep up with regular fish deliveries to the nest to keep the  brood in calories as well as the water from the fish they consume. 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  Friends of Salt Point  Cayuga Osprey Network Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com 


HELP PROTECT OSPREYS 

• AVOID GETTING TOO CLOSE TO NESTING SITES DURING THE BREEDING SEASON. IF AN ANIMAL  VOCALIZES WHEN YOU'RE NEAR, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. 

• CARRY BINOCULARS TO VIEW WILDLIFE FROM AFAR. 

• RESTORE, CLEAN, AND PRESERVE LAKESHORE AND WETLAND HABITAT. • RECYCLE USED FISHING LINE, WHICH CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO OSPREY.  

• JOIN THE CAYUGA OSPREY NETWORK AND VOLUNTEER TO HELP MONITOR OSPREY NESTS. WRITE TO: CEC222@GMAIL.COM. 

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021 

READ! 

On Osprey Time—A Blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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