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Adult/parent Birds.; Do they stay together/where do they go?
Topic Started: Aug 5 2006, 09:10 AM (291 Views)
Cumbrian
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Posting this on behalf of Sandie, Member # 159.


Does anyone know what the "usual" course of action is for the parents? Will they hang around as long as HRH Cruz stays? Will they go their seperate ways and come back together at mating time, or?????
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Eagle Guy
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The adults should stay in or near their territory year-round. They will often be seen near each other and nest-building can start as early as December. Cruz will be the one that leaves the territory on her own.
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MaMiMoBa Mom
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Now I'm wondering why Cruz will leave? Is it to find a mate? Perhaps to find her own territory? Thinking of territories, is it hard for young eagles to make a territory with other adult eagles nearby? Do the adults threaten the younger birds?

I also thought there was a strong chance that A-49/Cruz could return to this very nesting site on Santa Cruz Island to one day lay her eggs? Would mating eagles "battle it out" with other pairs to gain control of a nest?

And yes, yet another question...how capable is Cruz's eyesight at this point? Could you give an example of what she might be able to see from the nest? (ie. distance/size of small creature on the ground?)

No need to answer in a hurry...I'm trying to wait until Eagle Guy's vacation has ended/IWS Crew gives us an update, but I just couldn't contain myself any longer!!!!
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Eagle Guy
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I'm not sure what exactly makes the young birds start to wander, but it is probably just instinctive. On Catalina, the fledglings start to move out of their parents' territory to explore the island at almost exactly a month from the day the fledged. They may spend a day or two exploring and then return to the nest area to get some more food from the parents and then go out on their own again. Therefore, I don't think it is the parents not providing food that causes the young birds to wander. They aren't looking for mates or territories, which will happen 3-4 years down the line.

I don't think it is likely that Cruz will return to this exact nest, unless the current adults have died and left the territory open. There might be battles for territories in areas where all the territories are taken, but there is currently plenty of space on the islands for many breeding pairs.

Regarding her vision, it is excellent. She should have eyesight that is 6-8 times stronger than ours, so she could see an injured gull from a couple miles away.
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ostrich2
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Eagle Guy,Aug 6 2006
09:00 PM
I'm not sure what exactly makes the young birds start to wander, but it is probably just instinctive. On Catalina, the fledglings start to move out of their parents' territory to explore the island at almost exactly a month from the day the fledged. They may spend a day or two exploring and then return to the nest area to get some more food from the parents and then go out on their own again. Therefore, I don't think it is the parents not providing food that causes the young birds to wander. They aren't looking for mates or territories, which will happen 3-4 years down the line.

I don't think it is likely that Cruz will return to this exact nest, unless the current adults have died and left the territory open. There might be battles for territories in areas where all the territories are taken, but there is currently plenty of space on the islands for many breeding pairs.

Regarding her vision, it is excellent. She should have eyesight that is 6-8 times stronger than ours, so she could see an injured gull from a couple miles away.

This is interesting - perhaps more surprising than Cruz leaving the area is the parents staying in the territory year-round. Is this the typical situation on the Channel Islands? In many other areas (for example the BC eagles in Saanich) the eagles move north to take advantage of the salmon runs in Alaska or other locations north. Is it fair to say then that there is sufficient food supply in the Channel Islands to support the eagles through the winter?

Even if A49 wouldn't likely return to the same nesting territory as the parents, I'm a bit surprised that she would be likely to return to Santa Cruz. I would have guessed there would be some natural "dispersal" instinct tending to distribute the offspring geographically so to speak. I'm thinking about the chances of inbreeding going up the more offspring tend to return to the same areas as their parents. Or perhaps this underestimates the size of these islands and the number of territories there are available, and thus the chances of closely related pairings down the road?
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