Marri keeps her parents on their toes

In the last week or two, Marri’s flying skills have improved as she chases Diamond (mother) and Xavier (father) around the tower and the roost trees. One bonding session was interrupted by her arrival https://youtu.be/HiG_EOBKssY and two days ago, spent a couple of hours in the box https://youtu.be/k0aAb4gvFNQ and in both these videos, she shows off her gliding and flying in the wind skills. We don’t know if she has caught any prey yet, but after five weeks, it would seem likely.

In the last couple of days, Xavier has started bringing prey back to the box (a quail and a cuckoo-shrike), the first being taken by Diamond, but the second was snatched away, presumably meant for Marri.

The box has been cleaned and some fresh gravel laid. Here Xavier is scraping on a particularly wet day: https://youtu.be/9sNKEdonPxQ

Males prepare the scrape as much as females in these out of season months, but the females take over as egg-laying approaches, usually ignoring the male’s efforts!