Lyons answers Blakeman and They're in Kansas too

A red-tail fledgling in Kansas
Photo by Pat Floersch
[see her note after Chris Lyons' answer to John Blakeman, below]


From Chris Lyons:
Briefly responding to John Blakeman's response [see post directly below]--I agree the purpose of the orangey chest color isn't to make the chicks more visible--if anything, the pale-chested chick should be more visible. My theory, imperfect though it be, was that it makes them more ATTRACTIVE--just a little. That seeing and/or hearing all the chicks, who are often in different locations, and in any event are competing for the same food, the adults might be a little more inclined to feed an orangey-chested one, because the color stimulates their feeding response. I've seen no direct evidence of this on the nest, however.

One would have to spend a lot of time carefully documenting the feeding behavior of a lot of Red-Tail families with both types of eyasses to know if there was any substance at all to my speculation. The pale-chested chick on the Fordham nest has been very insistent about getting his share, and has shown a great deal of energy overall. Even if I'm right, a pale-chested chick probably wouldn't starve if there was plenty of food to go around. But getting a little more food in the weeks following fledging could make a difference with regards to who survives to full adulthood, and gets to breed.

As to the red tail, there are clearly many factors that go into successfully attracting a mate; hunting prowess, experience, overall vigor, ownership of a good territory, and a sense of humor never hurts. Kidding. I think. ;).

From Pat Floersch:
Hello Marie,

This is one of three baby red-tails living in an oak tree behind our house in Overland Park, Kansas. This is a suburb of Kansas City. All three eyasses have orangy chests as have the previous year's eyasses.

Having only seen this kind, I have been fascinated by the discussion on your website and the white chested one was really interesting with his orange chested brethren.

Sincerely, Pat Floersch