UPDATE: Stillwater Area High School's Baby Falcons are Growing Up

Stillwater Area High School's baby falcons are growing up.

According to the district's Facebook page:

A lot of growth happens in just a week! The chicks are covered in intense down and just had a big meal - note the big bulge in his crop!

The chicks got banded this week (you can see it around his left leg in the photos aboce). It's too big right now (he'll grow into it) so it is secured with tape.

At Day 11 they are getting close to imprinting. Imprinting is a form of animal learning that occurs at a very specific stage in that animal's life. It can take a variety of forms, but the most famous type is probably filial imprinting, in which young birds learn to recognize and follow their parents. The chicks will be placed in an area with each other where they will self-raise. At that time they will have minimal contact with humans so they do not "imprint" and identify humans as parents. They will reengage with humans when they begin their falconry training.

These little guys will go back to their parents 1-2 weeks from now to grow and learn from them. Eventually, they will go to people who are falconers and will use them to hunt small game. The Science Department also produces pure peregrine falcons (some for release) as well as pure gyr falcons and pure goshawks.

UPDATED FROM: Apr 09 2013 03:45pm

The Stillwater Area High School science department hatched two baby falcons over the weekend.

Andrew Weaver, a biology teacher at the high school, announced on Monday that two baby falcons were hatched.

Weaver is a Master licensed falconer, and has worked on peregrine falcon restoration in Minnesota since 2002. He heads the Falcon Project at Stillwater Area High School and holds permits in Stillwater for raptor propagation, radio telemetry of wildlife, and scientific collections.

Stillwater Area Public Schools is the only district in the state of Minnesota to offer such a program.

Joanna Olson, a spokesperson for the district, passed along this information after talking to Mr. Weaver about the chicks:

The falcon chicks are a mix of white gyr and peregrine falcon blood. As of noon today, one egg from the clutch is still in the process of hatching. It is not uncommon for the eggs to hatch a few days apart.

When hatched, the chicks' body temperature is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The chicks are covered in down so Weaver monitors them closely to ensure they do not get too hot in their temperature controlled chamber.

These chicks eat about every four hours. Their diet at three days consists of finely chopped quail, which is mixed with a little bit of Pedialyte to make it even more nutritious. The chicks eat until their crop is full. It takes them about four hours to digest the food, then it's time to eat all over again.

The sex of the chicks can be determined by testing their shells; the shells were sent to the lab today and sex should be determined in the coming weeks.

Check back for updates on the falcon chicks.