One Chick Only Just SurvivedOn May 28 at 15.52 one chick (the smallest and least developed) stepped out of the box. This is the earliest I have ever recorded. During the evening the chick (Lonely) made many attempts to get back but failed each time and the adult did not appear to help. This is the moment that Lonely steps off the tray.

The adult female remained in the box with the remaining three chicks all night. The chicks always pile on top of each other to keep warm so Lonely was probably cold during night.

On May 29 at 5 in the morning Lonely again tried many times to get back. The 3 chicks were fed in the box by the adult which attempted to feed Lonely a few times during the day but he did not respond. In the late afternoon the male flew in with a pigeon and took it directly to Lonely but he was lying down and did not move or attempt to feed. The female took prey to Lonely but he was on a lower level and could not raise his head up far enough. And now there was competition with the other chicks which were also out and about and gathered round any adult with food.

One of the larger chicks also could not get back into the box and she went over to Lonely and they both lay together for warmth. This might have been the saviour of the lonely chick. However, when an adult came over with prey the bigger chick took all the food until there was little left. Later the female landed by the two chicks again and looked around for the remains of prey but the only bits left were the pigeon legs which she kept trying to feed to Lonely. Lonely could barely open his bill wide enough or close it tight enough so once again he received no food. Later the bigger chick walked away and managed to get back into the box. Will the lonely chick survive another night on his own – we have never lost a chick once it had hatched.

At 1 am on the 30th the lonely chick was by the box and had not moved for hours and was out of sight of the female in the box. At 1.20, Lonely opened his eyes and perhaps called out. The female came out of the box to investigate. She tried to drag Lonely into the box many times.by grabbing hold of the chick’s nape but failed and the female went back into box. At 1.30 she made another attempt and succeeded. Lonely was back in the box and warm again! A little later it rained for the rest of the night and was still wet in the morning. The chick would probably not have survived if the female had not made this last attempt. There was a feeding session and Lonely did get something but only after the other chicks could eat no more.

Here is a video of the battle to get Lonely back in the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMI75gJCTSY&list=PLTM1gWldEpiI34d5mZViY08dKPwLYectw&index=10

I could not believe it! At 15.35 Lonely stepped out and off the box again! Lonely was by box with the female looking at him and she pursued him at 16.32 and tried to pull him back into the box but failed. Every time she tried to grab his nape he faced her and opened his bill for food which made it rather difficult. The female gave up. But then at 19.40, Lonely, after a long struggle to get back into the box eventually succeeded without help.

The following morning Lonely got some food and appeared to recover quickly. When the chicks were ringed it was clear that he was a male and that was one of the reasons why he was the smallest - the other three were larger females. Perhaps he stepped out of the box early to avoid his sisters. Unusually he continued to avoid his sisters and lived up to his name of Lonely.

Dave Pearce