Black Stork Nest In Karula 2023.

Cameras Watching over Black Storks nest
Post Reply
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Black Stork Nest In Karula 2023.

Post by Swenja »

Karl II and Kaia already have long periods of absence from the nest at the beginning of 2020 and in the following 2 seasons.
For example, Karl II had incubated a full 24 hours from May 25th to 26th.
But Kaia had also incubated for over 18 hours in this season.

It's not that long every day, but a change of parents normally only takes place once in 24 hours in this nest and sometimes no change at all.

We don't know exactly why the parents often have such long absences. Drought can be a reason and long search for food.

It takes time to determine the exact mean incubation period.

Volunteers step forward please! :rolleyes:
Freedom!
HelenL44
Registered user
Posts: 232
Joined: July 3rd, 2017, 9:05 am
Location: Bremerton, Washington USA

Post by HelenL44 »

asteria wrote: May 27th, 2023, 4:38 pm Karl II was swearing on the ravens. Never heard such sounds from any stork.
Thank you for posting the strange conversation; I thought at first it must be the raven. But then I began to look at Karl's beak and it does seem that he was the one making the sounds. I've never heard such sounds either.
Helen S.
User avatar
Liz01
Registered user
Posts: 72303
Joined: January 21st, 2014, 2:06 pm
Location: Germany

Post by Liz01 »

tsang6482 wrote: May 27th, 2023, 11:46 pm It seems as though there have been quite a few attempts by goshawk, ravens etc in this nest this year, as compared to others.

Is that really the case, or there just better documentation of it here?
:hi:
There are far fewer Goshawk attacks here compared to other nests. the harassment by ravens is also rather low.
I can assure you, at other nests, ravens were sit at the nest tree for over an hour and came several times a day.

EDIT:
BTW: Ravens do not come to an occupied nest to steal eggs. they come to bully. And not only ravens have this behavior.
Mobbing response:
The mean response evoked by particular predators differed. The most highly mobbed species was raven, followed by hooded crow ....
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

May 28

Good morning!

Image

07:20 A raven above the nest. Kaia hisses and defends.

Image

Image
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

07:24 The raven flies away.

Image



Kaia hears the ravens from a distance.

Hello @tsang6482 :hi:
I am glad that the ravens have not been so intrusive so far. So far, the ravens have only taken a short time of Nuisance.
A hawk has not yet been shown this season. The owl was noticeable for this.
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Kaia airs the eggs and loosens the nest floor.

shake out feathers
Image

Image

rolls the eggs lightly
Image

She covers the eggs again.
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Kaia takes care of the nest edge.

Image

Image
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

:book:
The eggs are 30, 27, 25 and 23 days old today.

Image

beautiful colors
Image
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

10:37 Karl II is back. He rumbled into the nest.

Image

Image

Greeting!

Image

Kaia flies away.
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Karl II takes care for the eggs.

Image

Image
Freedom!
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

Hello everyone :wave:

Swenja, many thanks for your continues observations, wonderful pictures and videos.

And also thanks to everyone for your valuable contributions!
Swenja wrote: May 28th, 2023, 7:54 am 07:20 A raven above the nest. Kaia hisses and defends.
Oh, those ravens! :rant:

I don't know much about the behaviour of ravens, but I do read that they are egg thieves, and that they also devour chicks, and - if not too big - the parent birds are sometimes also on the menu.

… One of the things that makes the common raven so successful is that it is an omnivore and will eat just about anything that agrees with its digestive system. This includes both plant and animal material. They hunt small rodents, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, and insects. They eat grain, fruit, and berries and can be pests to farmers. They scavenge and will not only eat carrion but the insects and insect larvae that are drawn to carrion.
They enthusiastically eat roadkill, and human garbage and will pick out the undigested food in feces. They raid the food caches of both ravens and other animals and hide that food in their own food caches. Common ravens eat the eggs and young of other birds and if the bird is small enough, it will eat the adult as well.
Ravens have been known to kill and eat newly born lambs, goats, and calves and don’t care if the animal is endangered. If a young raven finds a large carcass being enjoyed by adult ravens, it will call its friends to the food source. …
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/common-raven/


VIDEO
Raven the Egg Thief - Part 2: Searching, Stealing and Hiding

© vogelarchiv.de, Thomas Plack
The raven from the video found an unguarded Graylag Goose nest that contained at least 5 eggs. Immediately he started taking egg after egg, hiding each egg in a nearby meadow and carefully covering it with hay.
This shows impressively how intelligent and planned ravens work.


Raven Stealing Ibus Egg (black-headed ibis)
© (all rights reserved, so prohibited from posting) Geoff Hutchinson
Click here to see the original picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghutcho/3 ... otostream/

Raven Eating Ibus Egg
© (all rights reserved) Geoff Hutchinson
Click here to see the original picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghutcho/3358540015



I also read that ravens do indeed mob as well. :nod:

The intentions of the ravens (which we see here in Karula) are anyone's guess.
Usually, predators and birds of prey are the ones being mobbed. The BS is not a raptor.

In any case, it is clear that Karl II and Kaia react very defensively to their presence.

Mobbing: What It Is, and Why Do Mobbed Birds Put Up With It
Whether you are a bird watcher or not, you have probably seen a larger bird being harassed by one or more smaller birds. This behavior is called “mobbing” and you may be wondering why the larger bird doesn’t defend itself. You are not alone.
Many species will swoop and chase flying or perched birds larger than themselves, sometimes even striking them. Birds as small as sparrows, along with larger birds such as crows and ravens, may actively mob raptors. At times, even raptors may exhibit this behaviour, as in the case of the Peregrine Falcon in the photo above. The attacking bird typically does this in an attempt to drive away birds, and sometimes mammals, that they perceive as dangerous. Mobbing can happen any time of the year, but is especially common in the spring and early summer – the breeding season. The “mobbing” birds will be actively defending themselves, their breeding territory, and any nest with eggs or chicks. At times, however, birds may even defend a non-breeding home range. This may be an effort to protect themselves, as well as their food source.
https://centerofthewest.org/2019/01/21/ ... hemselves/



Edit:
I have repeatedly seen my cat being mobbed by blackbirds if she got too close to the bush where the blackbirds had their nest. Impressive aer-attacks, which somewhat unnerved the cat. 8-)
And I have also regularly watched a little gang of crows perform mock attacks on flying buzzards.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

Swenja wrote: May 27th, 2023, 11:57 pm Karl II and Kaia already have long periods of absence from the nest at the beginning of 2020 and in the following 2 seasons.
For example, Karl II had incubated a full 24 hours from May 25th to 26th.
But Kaia had also incubated for over 18 hours in this season.

It's not that long every day, but a change of parents normally only takes place once in 24 hours in this nest and sometimes no change at all.

We don't know exactly why the parents often have such long absences. Drought can be a reason and long search for food.

It takes time to determine the exact mean incubation period.

Volunteers step forward please! :rolleyes:
Yes, Swenja, on this nest it is quite common to see long incubation shifts. :nod:
Shifts of 12-15 hours are the norm rather than the exception.
It's not always this long, but it's often. (And often Karl II incubates more hours a day than Kaia)
And if the birds want to switch shifts, a very long (21 to 24-hours) shift is not exceptional either.

Broadly speaking, I think it can (almost) be concluded that someone does the night shift and someone does the day shift. The one on night shift looks for his food during the day. The one on day shift seeks his food in the (early) morning and in the evening.

I don't know if these long shifts have to do with food scarcity, or if this "routine" just suits our birds well.

I am willing, if it would be useful, to list the duty hours of the past few years. But that would indeed be a huge job, and it cannot be done immediately.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Hello @Anne7 :hi: you are welcome!
Thank you for the very nice contribution and the video about ravens.

I have already scribbled down the dates from the laying of the 4th egg this year. I would just have to sort them and write them down in an overview. When calculating the mean value, however, I might have to round off, as there are times when the camera transmission is interrupted and the parents change. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it exact.
And it will still take time, even if I have the scribbled data here.
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Sometimes you can hear a buzzard calling.
Karl II reacts and looks to the sky.

14:04 Karl II stands up and airs the eggs.
He loosens the nest bottom, shakes the feather, does a ps and covers the eggs again.

Image

Image

Image
Freedom!
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

Karl II airs and loosens the nest floor.
He is scratching his neck, rolls the eggs and covers the eggs again.

Image

Image

Image

:wave:
Freedom!
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

Swenja wrote: May 28th, 2023, 2:08 pm
I have already scribbled down the dates from the laying of the 4th egg this year. I would just have to sort them and write them down in an overview. When calculating the mean value, however, I might have to round off, as there are times when the camera transmission is interrupted and the parents change. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it exact.
And it will still take time, even if I have the scribbled data here.
Hi Swenja
I think there is no problem in rounding up the duty hours. For ease of calculation, I would even round up to the nearest hour and half-hour. Especially since hours/minutes are not decimal. So, for example: 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, 2.5 hours etc... Rounding, sometimes up, and other times down, tends to minimise the error margin in the final result. In the final result, the error margin will not exceed 15 minutes. And a quarter of an hour is only 1/96th part of a 24-hour period. That’s 1.04167 %.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

15:49 Karl II gets up.

He preens.
He takes care of the nest floor.
He shakes his plumage.
He aerates the nest.

He carefully turns the eggs.
Image

He does a ps.
Image

More egg- and nestcare.

He monitors an egg quite intensively.
Image

15:51 He covers the eggs.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

The Sleeping Beauty. :sleeping:
Image

Is there someone?
Image

16:15 Karl II gets up.
Image

He preens.
He aerates the nest floor.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Anne7
Registered user
Posts: 10511
Joined: April 15th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Location: Belgium

Post by Anne7 »

He ruffles his feathers.
Image

He monitors an egg.
Image

16:17 He covers the eggs
Image


If all goes well, we might soon be able to hear the first 'egg talk'.
:wave:
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
User avatar
Swenja
Registered user
Posts: 7136
Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:35 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Swenja »

camera transmission off

Image


Thank you @Anne7 :hi:
Fine, I'll round the numbers.
Freedom!
Post Reply

Return to “Black Stork Camera Forum”