This is the amazing moment a peregrine falcon chick is hatched with the help of its impatient mother who then leaves it in the cold.
The footage was shot in the Belgian municipality of Oudenaarde which is in East Flanders where the video in the hatchery captured the moment the chick was pulled from the shell by its mother.
The camera had been put in place by officials from the Natuurpunt nature conservation association which is active in Flanders and manages 500 nature reserves in the region.
It shows the mother pulling away the pieces of the eggshell to expose the blind and naked pink chick which is then left briefly lying on the stones in the nest.
The mother returns to keep the other eggs warm before then pulling the chick under her wing.
In the wild, peregrine falcons normally lay their eggs on cliff edges in loose soil or gravel, or occasionally vegetation, and this artificial nest includes what might be considered uncomfortable gravel but is natural for the birds of prey.
They most typically lay three or four eggs and both parent birds will share the incubation, with the chicks hatching over the course of a few days.
Both male and female peregrine falcons have similar markings, but the female is around 30 percent smaller allowing the experts to identify that it was the mother which helped this chick to hatch.
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Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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