Cam link: http://sakerlife2.mme.hu/en/content/webcam-1
This cam has IR and sound. The falcons have 1 egg so far.

Saker falcons are a large hierofalcon, larger than the Lanner Falcon and almost as large as Gyrfalcon at 47–55 cm (18-22 inches) length with a wingspan of 105–129 cm (42-50 inches). Its broad blunt wings give it a shadow similar to Gyrfalcon, but its plumage is more similar to a Lanner Falcon's.

Saker Falcons have brown upperbellies and contrasting grey flight feathers. The head and underparts are paler brown, with streaking from the breast down. Males (called sakrets in falconry) and females are similar, as are young birds, although these tend to be a duller brown. The call is a sharp kiy-ee.

Adults can be distinguished from the similar Lanner Falcon since the Lanner is blue-grey above with a reddish back to the head. However, juveniles of the two species can be very similar although the Saker Falcon always has a uniformly buff top of the head with dark streaks, and a less clear pattern on the sides of the head.

A further complication is that some Asian birds have grey barred upperparts; these must be separated from Lanner on size, structure, and a weaker moustache stripe. Saker Falcons at the northeast edge of the range in the Altai Mountains are slightly larger, and darker and more heavily spotted on the underparts than other populations. These, known as the Altai Falcon, have been treated in the past either as a distinct species "Falco altaicus" or as a hybrid between Saker Falcon and Gyrfalcon, but modern opinion (e.g. Orta 1994) is to tentatively treat it as a form of Saker Falcon, until comprehensive studies of its population genetics and ecology are available.

Unfortunately, this species belongs to the close-knit hierofalcon complex. In this group, there is ample evidence for rampant hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting which confounds analyses of DNA sequence data to a massive extent; molecular studies with small sample sizes can simply not be expected to yield reliable conclusions in the entire hierofalcon group. The radiation of the entire living diversity of hierofalcons seems to have taken place in the Eemian interglacial at the start of the Late Pleistocene, a mere 130,000-115,000 years ago; the Saker Falcon represents a lineage that expanded out of northeastern Africa into the interior of southeastern Europe and Asia, by way of the eastern Mediterranean region.[2]

In captivity, Lanner and Saker can interbreed. For example, one such hybrid lives at the African Lion Safari in Ontario, Canada. Gyrfalcon-Saker hybrids are also available (see bird flu experiment described in "Ecology and status").

A Hungarian mythological bird, the Turul, was probably a saker falcon (Kerecsensólyom).
Source: Wikipedia

Some info on this nest from their cam page:

Following the life of pair of Saker Falcon by using web cam

In the frame of the international Saker conservation LIFE programme, MAVIR (the Hungarian high-voltage electricity transmission operator company) started to install the web cam and its accessories on 1st March and it was set ready on the 8th. It would have been better to complete the task earlier, however the weather did not favour for that. The web cam, the solar panels and their accessories were installed by professionals, who wore special 'FAM' protecting clothes as the 400 kV power line were not switched off during the operation. The falcons did not fly away, but they were watching closely the action from the nearby pylons.

Near the Saker's pylon with the web cam, a pair of Raven is breeding. That makes the falcons watchful, because – although the Ravens do not threaten their lives – very rarely it occurs that in a careless moment they steal and eat the falcon eggs.

It was already on 8th March that we observed the first appearance of the male through the web cam and next they the female showed up too. It was helpful in this situation that the birds bred successfully in the same nest box and they were used to their neighbourhood. It means that they did not give up the nest box, and the female soon laid the first egg.

The display flight of Sakers starts in the end of February – in the beginning of March. They fly high posing in a spectacular way, and meanwhile they are chasing away other birds of prey from the vicinity of chosen nest site. The male is feeding the female already in the display period. On one hand he proves his fitness this way (showing that they will be able to feed the family later), and on the other hand, he is fulfilling the female's need for nutrition that increases in the period of egg laying. The laying starts in the beginning / mid March, but mating keeps continuing. Sakers start incubating after laying the third egg, thus the chicks from the later eggs hatch a few days later. A full clutch consists of 3-5 eggs, the incubation time is 32-34 days. It is mainly the female that incubates. She swivels the eggs from time to time, shadows them and meanwhile she makes the nest more comfortable.

We have been registering the habitat of this Saker pair as a Saker-habitat for eight years now, but the individuals have changed during this time. In this case, the male is approximately 5-6 years old, his breast feathers are lighter-coloured, his legs are brighter yellow and he is smaller than the female – this latter is a general rule among birds of prey species. Although the biological age of Sakers may be as long as 25 years, due to the various mortality factors, they live much less in nature. The female has got an ornithological ring and a PIT ring too, which is indicating that she was ringed in the frame of the previous LIFE programme. The male does not have ring.

Sakers may be identified by their rings later. Last year two strong juveniles (a female and a male) fledged from this nest and both were ringed by the experts of MME and with the assistance of MAVIR. They were not the only ones: in total, 293 chicks were ringed in Hungary in 2012.

The observation is continuous also in the night. Infra red light – that the birds cannot detect – reflects the nest box and an infra-camera records the pictures, which are black and white that time. Night (thus 24-hour) observation of a Saker nest has not been done anywhere in the world so far.

The Saker Falcon is a strictly protected species in Hungary, its conservation value is one-million HUF (approximately € 3500).

This nest has 4 eggs now!

Published by Madárleső Kamerák

I keep forgetting to watch this cam. Thank goodness for these vids so at least I'll know when these eggs hatch.

1st Hatch!






Published by Madárleső Kamerák

Published by Madárleső Kamerák

altazena, I haven't seen any forum or info for this nest but I'm sure it's out there somewhere. I'll keep looking!

Look like all these raptor moms are bossy when it comes to feeding their babies. Dad flies in with lunch and thought about feeding the chicks until Mom comes in and takes over. LOL

That's an interesting thought alta! Maybe she doesn't trust him and maybe she's just bossy and protective of her babies like most all of us moms are.

We learned that the reason the Goshawk dad is in and out so fast is because he doesn't trust mom. It seems Mom Goshawks have been known to eat their mates! Maybe dads are afraid of moms cause they're bigger and vacate the premises whenever they show up?

Published by fleur3979