As the days warm up everything seems to move faster, including time. A little less than a month ago the Peregrine Falcons completed their clutch of five eggs. We are now close to the time when eggs should begin hatching. The average incubation period for Peregrine Falcons is approximately 33 days. This is nature so there is variation. Nevertheless, we could possibly see our first “fluffball” over the weekend, but perhaps more likely the bundles of joy will appear early next week. Even though there are five eggs, all five may not be fertile viable eggs and may not hatch. This has occurred on a few occasions at the Capitol.
As others have noted, our Capitol falcons are a little behind others. For example, the Woodmen Peregrine Falcons, which includes Capitol progeny Mintaka, welcomed fluffballs into the world over the weekend. I attribute this difference to natural variation. As I have stated before, the Capitol Peregrine Falcons are very experienced and are old pros at this breeding thing.
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