The Stork has delivered.. / Die ooievaar het voorsien..
Metaphorically speaking, that is.
In keeping with our predictions, the first Crowned Eagle egg of the new season
hatched on the 10 th of September, after 50 days of incubation. As a result, we now
have a new chick that is in its third week of life. It is likely that a second egg
hatched three days after the first, but that chick is very unlikely to be allowed to
survive. We suspect that Nature determines this for principally two reasons.
First, the chicks need such regular feeding that the parents would simply not be able
to cope with the demands of two appetites. Secondly, the chicks grow so fast that
within three months, two would not fit in the nest. Unlike last year, when five days of
continuous rain and high winds coincided with the hatching of the chick and caused it
to die, the weather this year has been kind. That means the male has been able to
hunt and provide the female with a generous supply of dassie and monkey carcasses.
From these she shreds suitable bits of soft tissue and tender morsels of meat that
will assist the chick on its path of rapid growth that will see it reach its full skeletal
development within five months.
This year the nest is very deep and the only persuasion we had of there being a chick
in it, was the way the female behaved. She would first feed herself on large chunks
of meat, throwing back her head and progressively ingesting pieces so large that one
wondered how on earth she did not choke on them. Then she would meticulously
shred tiny little bits of tissue and meat with her beak before dipping her head into
the nest and depositing them into the open mouth of the chick. For this article I have
selected pictures that illustrate the process. The quality of the pictures is not good
because they are taken from a distance of more than 100 meters, but the general
idea is evident.
The nest, as seen from
100 meters away with a
Nikon 600mm lens. The
female is eating a piece of
dassie carcass.
The eagle feeds herself and
manages to swallow enormous
piece of meat.
Photos by / Foto’s deur: Jacques Sellschop
Metafories gesproke, dit is.
In ooreenstemming met ons voorspellings, het die eerste Kroonarend-eier van die nuwe
seisoen op 10 September, na 50 dae van inkubasie, uitgebroei. As gevolg daarvan het
ons nou 'n nuwe kuiken wat in sy derde week van die lewe is.
Dit is waarskynlik dat 'n tweede eier drie dae na die eerste een uitgebroei het, maar
daardie kuiken sal baie onwaarskynlik toegelaat word om te oorleef. Ons vermoed dat
die Natuur dit vir hoofsaaklik twee redes bepaal. Eerstens benodig die kuikens so
gereeld voeding dat die ouers eenvoudig nie die eise van twee eetlusse kan hanteer
nie. Tweedens groei die kuikens so vinnig dat hulle binne drie maande nie in die nes sal
pas nie. In teenstelling met verlede jaar, toe daar vyf dae van aanhoudende reën en hoë
winde met die uitbroei van die kuiken geskied het, en dit veroorsaak het dat die kuiken
sterf, is die weer vanjaar goed. Dit beteken die mannetjie kon die vrou genoegsame
voedsel aanbied en sodoende dassie- en aapkarkasse jag en aan die vrou voorsien.
Hieruit sny sy geskikte stukkies sagteweefsel en sagte stukkies vleis wat die kuiken
sal help op die pad van vinnige groei en ons sal sien dat die kuiken binne vyf maande
sy volle skeletontwikkeling sal bereik.
Hierdie jaar is die nes baie diep en die enigste oortuiging wat ons daaraan gehad het
om 'n kuiken daarin te hê, was die wyfie se gedrag. Sy sal haarself eers op groot
stukkies vleis voed, haar kop teruggooi en stukkies so vinnig inneem dat 'n mens
wonder hoe op aarde sy nie verstik nie. Dan sal sy noukeurig klein stukkies weefsel en
vleis met haar bek slaan voordat sy haar kop in die nes gooi en hulle in die oop mond
van die kuiken neersit. Vir hierdie artikel het ek foto's gekies wat die proses illustreer.
Die kwaliteit van die prente is nie goed nie omdat hulle van meer as 100 meter
geneem word, maar die algemene idee is duidelik.
When she has had enough, she
shreds off tiny bits of meat that she
will then place gently into the open
beak of the hungry chick.
Written by / Geskryf deur
Jacques Sellschop
Here is the moment when we see
the 2018 chick for the very first
time as the devoted mother places
a tiny morsel of meat into its beak.
Here our second sighting of the
chick as it waits in wide-eyed
expectancy of its next mouthful of
protein. This feeding ritual can
last for an hour at a time.