From FORUM
Giac 04/ 05, 2019 11:55 pm
The female usurper (we can think of a name to give her ... maybe Grimilde ..) is a real bully.
She is surely the one responsible for the admission of Annia to the CRFS of the LIPU.
The day before Annia if and she was dozing on her four eggs and I imagine the scene: numbed by the labors of incubation she must have asked Valerio to change and left the nest to stretch legs and wings. Probably, so numb, she didn't realize the missile that was falling on her: another female jealous of the beautiful panoramic site where the nest is located and willing to do anything to get it (male included).
Grimilde, the "usurper" is not necessarily stronger or bigger than Annia. He only took her by surprise and this counts more than strength. At LIPU they said that apart from the blood on her head, Annia was perfect with plumage, with a beautiful breast in flesh, and that I too have seen her confirm that she is a beautiful pilgrim! The attack of the female usurper must have caught her by surprise and may have made her slam on a building or made her make a disastrous landing on the ground. But now he has difficulty spreading the right wing and in these conditions he is unable to fly. Therefore it is not possible to put it back in the nest or nearby because Grimilde is still there and would end it very easily.
In all this the male is not that he can do much. First of all, he feels the HUGE responsibility to look after the eggs and he must also deal with HUNGER: every now and then he has to go and get a snack and to do this he has to leave the eggs alone. At the height of the nest on the ACEA tower the wind is much stronger than at ground level and the eggs are rapidly chilled. He knows it and showed in the first day that he was willing to give up eating just to keep the eggs warm ..
Grimilde is much bigger than the male and he is a little afraid of it. He knows that she wouldn't kill him (moreover, what would he do with a nest if he doesn't have a mate) but maybe he still thinks of his ANNIA that knows him and treats him more kindly and so when the usurper shows up he stays very cautious. But his job now is to carry on the reproduction and continue to take care of the eggs, at the cost of accepting the company of a new female.
But while he, who has now gained experience and has the hormones at the right levels, is completely taken up by his reproductive tasks and performs them very well, Grimilde who has missed the preamble phase (courting, pops, flights, prey passages and other fads) and it has not even laid an egg, it probably has lower hormones and instinct alone is not enough to make it understand how a female should behave from a nest.
So while Valerio is consumed trying to keep all four eggs close together in order to keep his skin warm, Grimilde has no clue what to do and scatters them everywhere. It is to be expected however that if the thing goes on, the sight of the eggs, the vocal exchanges with the male awaken in her healthier instincts and maybe, who knows, could start to incubate.
On the other hand, having arrived at this point it is too late to lay new eggs (and then Valerio "has already given") and perhaps it is better to adopt those laid by another.
When we observed this confusion at the nest, complicated by the arrival of bad weather, we worried that the eggs would freeze and any embryos would die. We have therefore decided to keep them safe. We transferred them to an incubator that we were lucky enough to be able to connect to the current in the room below the one where the nest is located. In the nest, however, we left four eggs (empty shells filled with resin) completely identical to those removed, so that the male would not lose his affection for the nest and continue with his activities. At the time of change the eggs were cold and gave no signs of life and this made us worry about the fate of the embryos.
Today we returned to check the incubator and to our surprise two of the eggs had cracks in their shells and the chicks inside emitted strong peeps! This if on the one hand we were very pleased because the "freddata" had no consequences complicates the situation a bit: we were hoping that it would take a little more time to open up and that in the meantime the situation would be clarified among the two females, perhaps Annia could have returned to the reinvigorated nest able to drive away the usurper or the latter could develop maternal instincts.
But now the little ones are about to be born and in this confused situation they cannot be put back to the nest. Grimilde who picks it up with eggs could clumsily kill the chicks and the male would not be able to avoid it. We need a few more days to see how the situation evolves (healing of Annia or Grimilde's banquet) and therefore we will assist us
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