Bat Falcon

For over 3 months I had the opportunity to watch a pair of Bat Falcons during nesting season. I happened upon their nest early on, and continued to monitor their progress. In the early stages the male was generally found on the snag, standing guard for the female and the eggs. I would see the female popping her head out once in awhile to see what was going on and occasionally she would venture out on the perch to stretch. At the beginning, the Bat Falcons didn't seem to mind sharing their snag with the vultures, but as the time grew nearer for the eggs to hatch, even the vultures got chased away. As the baby grew I got to witness his first flights. What a character! He was quite unsure of himself and would only fly short distances at a time. Even when he would perch his lack of coordination could be seen as he would often lose his balance and have to spread his wings to regain it. Both Mom and Dad continued to hunt for him and bring him food. After a catch, the Dad would tear up the food and take some for himself. When the Mom decided he had eaten enough, she would start calling out for him to share with the baby. On more than one occasion they even had a brief scuffle before the father gave the food to the baby. Below are some photos I took documenting everything I saw. The baby is grown now and starting to hunt on his own. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed watching them.

The male sitting atop his perch keeping a watchful eye over his nest

The female came out of the nest to do a little preening

Peering down at the vulture, as time got closer to the eggs hatching this guy was chased away

Taking a stretch

Watching over the area

The female taking a look back after flying back into her nest

Going to survey the area to keep it safe from any potential predators

Enjoying a tasty bat. I noticed that there must have been a bat cave nearby as almost everything they caught to eat were bats, and some of these were being caught in the late morning, well after dawn

Bringing food for his madam

The juvenile with his best intimidating look

The juvenile before he could fly. For a couple of weeks I would see him sitting in the hole looking around and bobbing. He would often be interested in bugs flying by and would look up to watch his Mom and Dad

I noticed that after the baby was born the mother looked quite ragged and beat up. I don't know if this was perhaps from taking care of the little one

Delivery Package - Dad bringing food to his baby

He was quite excited to see his Dad bring food - if you look you will notice the blue around the juvenile's eyes and the yellow around the adult's eyes. As the juvenile grows, the blue will eventually turn to the yellow

I love the expression on his face

The adults coming back from chasing off a Yellow Headed Caracara that ventured too close to the nest

They were both heading to the same perch to land, but the female arrived first, leaving the male to find a different perch

The juvenile stretching his wings after a flight. This was during his first couple of weeks learning to fly

The juvenile looking for some attention

Getting cleaned up from mom

One of his earliest flights, this was the lowest perching area on the tree

Give me the food Mom, I'm starved!

Just like a child, a messy eater

Finally figured out how to eat it

All were involved in teaching the young one how to hunt and carry food as he flies. The mother is sitting on the perch coaching while the father has the food and the juvenile is preparing to take it from him

The midair exchange getting ready to take place as the juvenile chases after the father

After the exchange is made he heads off with his "catch"

He wasn't so coordinated in his early days of flying and would often seem to lose his balance while sitting on this perch

Here are some other photos, please click on them to enlarge

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