4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION   continued

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4.8 Breeding success

       4.8.1 Data on nests, eggs and young

TABLE 2: NESTS AND YOUNG DATA

Nests/Young	1996	1997	1998	1999
Number of nests found	14	15	14	12
Total number of live young	21	23	7	17
Average number of live young	1.62	2.09	2.33	1.89
Total number of eggs/young	27	26	15	23
Average clutch size	2.08	2.36	2.50	2.56
Total number of addled ggs	4	2	1	1

The table above give totals and averages for the years 1996 to 1999. It should be noted that there may have been more young/eggs in the eyries as there were instances where full view of some eyries was obscured. Therefore the total figures are likely to be higher than those recorded. 4.8.2 Ledges and chick mortality On two occasions during the four year study, young falcons were observed dead below the eyries. One was about 25 days old and the other about eight to ten days old. Whilst this may not seem to be many, it should be recognised that during the season, eyries are usually only visited once, and given that most of the observation is undertaken from above the eyrie, there are not many opportunities to see dead young. It would be interesting to know how many young have actually fallen from nest ledges and what percentage of the total young, from the 30 breeding pairs in KNP, this would constitute. back to top