Spartan Stadium Falcon Cam

Floyd Robertson wrote:Those baby birds have to get tired of eating bird meat. Every time I see feeding time, mom is having to spit the feathers out. I'm sure they'd love a nice chipmunk.

Mom had a piece of feather stuck to her beak for a while yesterday.

Remember squirrels on campus but don't recall any chipmunks. Are they there?

The Pantry wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:Those baby birds have to get tired of eating bird meat. Every time I see feeding time, mom is having to spit the feathers out. I'm sure they'd love a nice chipmunk.

Mom had a piece of feather stuck to her beak for a while yesterday.

Remember squirrels on campus but don't recall any chipmunks. Are they there?

I can't say for sure, but I would think so.

MSU addict wrote:

MSU addict wrote:
I believe the camera is positioned slightly differently this year.  Last year it was more zoomed in - you really could not see the top of the box and not as much around the sides and the roof of the stadium.

Give and take really.  They do sit on top of the box when they are fledglings and it is nice to see the other parent occasionally fly by and what is going on around the box.  But I would agree the night view is worse than last year.

It looks like they zoomed the camera back in.  I am not sure why they did this  - maybe it was night glare, maybe to see the babies closer.  Looks even closer than last year.  Personally I like being able to see what is around the box.  

Looks the same to me.  Maybe they zoomed in briefly.

Warm enough mom is doing some preening.

This chicks are growing fast, so fast that I've noticed mom is having a hard time sitting on all of them at once lol.

Floyd Robertson wrote:This chicks are growing fast, so fast that I've noticed mom is having a hard time sitting on all of them at once lol.

Yeah. She squats and wraps her wings around them.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Not as fugly as the Mustang Mach-e, either.

Frankly, I think Teslas (all models) are fugly as shit.

Kia's are better looking.

Yep. It’s unlikely I’d ever buy one, but KIA and Hyundai have a few good looking cars. Although, at this stage of my life, I can handle an ugly exterior if the interior is extraordinary. Most cars these days are so much more plain than they were decades ago.

MSU addict wrote:

MSU addict wrote:
I believe the camera is positioned slightly differently this year.  Last year it was more zoomed in - you really could not see the top of the box and not as much around the sides and the roof of the stadium.

Give and take really.  They do sit on top of the box when they are fledglings and it is nice to see the other parent occasionally fly by and what is going on around the box.  But I would agree the night view is worse than last year.

It looks like they zoomed the camera back in. I am not sure why they did this - maybe it was night glare, maybe to see the babies closer. Looks even closer than last year. Personally I like being able to see what is around the box.

They’ve def zoomed in since we last discussed it. People read this site.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Those baby birds have to get tired of eating bird meat. Every time I see feeding time, mom is having to spit the feathers out. I'm sure they'd love a nice chipmunk.

Gotta have the feathers in order to pick the meat from their teeth.

The kids are getting more mobile.  Starting to see some feathers appear.

The Pantry wrote:The kids are getting more mobile.  Starting to see some feathers appear.

It really is amazing how much their strength and agility grows day by day. One day they're just lying there and the next they're walking and sitting upright.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

The Pantry wrote:The kids are getting more mobile.  Starting to see some feathers appear.

It really is amazing how much their strength and agility grows day by day. One day they're just lying there and the next they're walking and sitting upright.

It took my kid like 16 months to walk. These MFers are going to be FLYING in the next 5 weeks!

Mom has looked directly at the camera often since first setting up in the nest, even at night.  Maybe a reflection off the lens?

I see the feathered puppies have left the center of the box and migrated to the same corner that was used last year.

On the other end of the scale from raptors I check in on this hummingbird cam from time to time. She is currently sitting on her 3 clutch of eggs for the year which are due to hatch around 5/20-5/23. Hummingbird babies mature much faster than the falcons, they will fledge the nest in less than a month after the hatch.

Anyone know how big a drop it is from the ledge to the left of the nest?

The Pantry wrote:Anyone know how big a drop it is from the ledge to the left of the nest?

One took a dive, eh?

NV, the 4th one was just blending in lol

The Pantry wrote:Anyone know how big a drop it is from the ledge to the left of the nest?

The ledge of the box? I’d guess about four feet.

The Pantry wrote:Anyone know how big a drop it is from the ledge to the left of the nest?

From the box to the roof, maybe 2.5 - 3 feet.  This picture shows a back view of the box:



It is about 4 feet from the box to the edge of the roof.  That is captured from the video of them banding the chicks last year.  The very first 30 seconds or so give  a good view of the boxes placement. The camera is on the pole on the left.  As you can tell from the video, the likely reason we don't have sound is because all you would hear is wind noise pretty much 24-7.  

How do these chicks survive without water? It’s hard to believe they get enough fluids from their all-meat meals.

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Anyone know how big a drop it is from the ledge to the left of the nest?

The ledge of the box? I’d guess about four feet.

I meant the ledge at the edge of the roof of the stadium.

tGreenWay wrote:How do these chicks survive without water? It’s hard to believe they get enough fluids from their all-meat meals.

That's a good question, but I had a birds-eye view of one crapping straight in the direction of the camera lens yesterday and I can say without question that it was a highly liquid projectile.

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



The ledge of the box? I’d guess about four feet.

I meant the ledge at the edge of the roof of the stadium.

Well, it’s on the top of the stadium on the west side, so picture how high up that is. For a bird that can’t fly, it’s a fatal fall, but for a juvenile just learning to fly, it seems to be high enough to correct any problems and take flight before gravity says stop.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:How do these chicks survive without water? It’s hard to believe they get enough fluids from their all-meat meals.

That's a good question, but I had a birds-eye view of one crapping straight in the direction of the camera lens yesterday and I can say without question that it was a highly liquid projectile.

lol no doubt those things are floofy shitting machines. Did you flinch?

tGreenWay wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:

That's a good question, but I had a birds-eye view of one crapping straight in the direction of the camera lens yesterday and I can say without question that it was a highly liquid projectile.

lol no doubt those things are floofy shitting machines. Did you flinch?

It was on my phone at the time, but i probably would have if had been watching on a much bigger screen lol.

tGreenWay wrote:How do these chicks survive without water? It’s hard to believe they get enough fluids from their all-meat meals.

Falcons do not drink water, chicks or adults.  Essentially no raptor does.  They get their fluids from the prey that they eat.  Birds generally have a higher percentage of their body weight as water than a human and falcons eat parts of the body like internal organs and intestines that have a high water content.

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:I meant the ledge at the edge of the roof of the stadium.

Well, it’s on the top of the stadium on the west side, so picture how high up that is. For a bird that can’t fly, it’s a fatal fall, but for a juvenile just learning to fly, it seems to be high enough to correct any problems and take flight before gravity says stop.

I'm guestimating 180-200 feet. Googled but couldn't find an answer.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



lol no doubt those things are floofy shitting machines. Did you flinch?

It was on my phone at the time, but i probably would have if had been watching on a much bigger screen lol.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities, especially once they get bigger. Sometimes, it looks like they’re crapping rope b/c it’s a long line of poo.

MSU addict wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:How do these chicks survive without water? It’s hard to believe they get enough fluids from their all-meat meals.

Falcons do not drink water, chicks or adults.  Essentially no raptor does.  They get their fluids from the prey that they eat.  Birds generally have a higher percentage of their body weight as water than a human and falcons eat parts of the body like internal organs and intestines that have a high water content.

Thanks for the info. Kind of figured that was how the chicks were getting fluids, but learning the adults don’t drink water either was the real surprise.

I've noticed over the last few days that mom has been spending progressively longer periods out of the nest. I hope none of the chicks decide to hop over the edge of the box looking for her.

Floyd Robertson wrote:I've noticed over the last few days that mom has been spending progressively longer periods out of the nest. I hope none of the chicks decide to hop over the edge of the box looking for her.

Nature can be a heartless bitch. I do wonder if that happened if someone in the club would go over there to see if it’s alive and healthy enough to be returned to the nest. Even an injured bird can be taken to a raptor rehab place.

Seriously though, it's almost nitey night and I haven't seen mom in like 6 hours.

Gonna need MSU addict to tell me this is normal.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Seriously though, it's almost nitey night and I haven't seen mom in like 6 hours.

Gonna need MSU addict to tell me this is normal.

It looks like Mom is guarding the box for the night (a bit hard to tell with limited color).  They were both in the box around 3:00 feeding the chicks a bird each of them had caught.  Dad it seems has been doing the feeding since then and has done so a number of times. If the babies are old enough to keep themselves warm (and they huddle together for warmth), the parent won't be in the box with them.  That doesn't mean they are not around.  They could be on top of the box on the camera pole or just flying around.  With the camera zoomed in, you can't really see much other than the box.

In the daytime they can see the box and see any predator from a great distance so there is no need to stick real close.  At night they have limited vision of their surroundings so they stick very close to the box, often on the perch just outside of it.

First time I've noticed mom on the roof

Amazing how fast they've grown

The Pantry wrote:Amazing how fast they've grown

Color has gotten a lot whiter too.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Amazing how fast they've grown

Color has gotten a lot whiter too.

Saw one shit well over the ledge earlier. Maybe getting potty trained?

Floyd Robertson wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Amazing how fast they've grown

Color has gotten a lot whiter too.

That color white is called “floofy”.

No wonder the banders took an umbrella along in the vid MSU addict provided.