!!! At least one of the two Hamilton eggs may have been eaten and the other abandoned by Madam X!
April 24, 2014 - Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel
CPF Postmaster Reports:
April 24th - 2014
Sadly, one of the eggs at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel nest site has disappeared, likely eaten by one (or both) of the resident pair and the remaining egg has been abandoned altogether by Madam X. While sad news, this is not an unusual happening. So far this year, we have already seen several other clutches of eggs destroyed and eaten by the resident pair at two other nest sites here in southern Ontario, and at several other nest sites each year over the past years.
Look at what the Port Colborne nest site has been going through over the past three years with incredible territorial battles going on each year, and the destruction of several clutches of eggs each season as a result - http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/c/sightings/port-colborne-adm-mill
While we can only speculate as to the cause, (and there are many things that cause the peregrines to abandon and /or consume their eggs), it is our experience that one of the most often documented explanations for a pair to abandon, destroy or consume their eggs comes from pressures as a result of territorial disputes from other peregrines challenging the resident pair for their territory or the nest sites.
While the fighting between outsiders and the resident pairs can get quite aggressive (well documented over the years, with physical combat going on in the nest boxes and nest ledges themselves), some times resulting in the injury or death of one or more of the birds, squabbling and fighting is just as evident in aerial battles that can take place some distance from the actual nest site itself. Its all about protecting your territory, and some of our urban pairs have huge territories!
Also remember that this is the time of year when allot of our northern Ontario’s peregrines are only just returning from their wintering grounds in the south, now passing through the area on the way back up north to their home turfs, and the single unattached birds are looking for both mates and territories, and in usual peregrine form, have no problem challenging whom ever they encounter on the way to win over a mate and territory. This is how Surge acquired the Hamilton Sheraton territory and Madam X several years ago. He wasn’t invited.
Stay tuned, it could get very interesting……….
The good news is, the breeding season is still in full swing, hormones levels are high, and there is plenty of time to produce and/or re-clutch additional eggs.
As far as our resident northern Ontario peregrines, many of them are still not even back on territory and still weeks away from even producing their own eggs.