Happy Hatch Day!

Congratulations to the first eaglet to hatch from the Minnesota Bound nest!

Now we can watch for the second eaglet to hatch in a couple of days or less.

Being able to watch this event is really pretty incredible.  In a future blog article I will share how incredible it is.  Not to long ago many of us did not think we would have this opportunity.  We came very close to losing this creature called the Bald Eagle. Losing it Forever.

For now though, lets revel in the joys of new life!

Hatch day happening soon! Time to buy hatch day presents and hatch day cards.

Now that we’ve been watching the eagles incubate the eggs for over a month, we’re getting ready for the eggs to hatch. As we discussed earlier, the first signs of hatching will be the females eagle’s behavior. As the eaglet begins to ‘pip’, or scratch at the inside of the shell with it’s ‘egg tooth’, the female eagle will be more vigilant and seemingly aware of something happening underneath her. It can take twelve to fifty hours from the first break in the shell for the eaglet to hatch completely.

As hatching approaches, we might also begin to notice the male eagle bringing back more food to the nest. Often eagle parents will stockpile food in and around the nest to prepare for the hatching youngsters. The parent eagles want to be prepared for the newly hatched eaglets who will be hungry!

In this area, we typically see eaglets hatching sometime in April. Incubation is about 35 days, and most eagles are laying eggs sometime in March.  Three of the eagle ambassadors here at the National Eagle Center are from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Although we don’t know their exact ‘hatch day’ we celebrate all the National Eagle Center’s eagles’ hatch day on Earth Day, April 22^nd.  This year, Harriet will be 31 years old!

Newly hatched eaglets have grayish-white down that covers their small bodies.  At this stage, they have small wobbly legs that are too weak to hold their weight. The eyes are partially closed with little vision particularly compared to what their eyesight will be like as an adult. The chicks are extremely vulnerable and will rely on round the clock care from their parents. Early on, the female will be doing most of the care at the nest while the male provides most of the food for the rapidly growing family.

Many people are thinking of eggs today

Soon it will happen! Yes, hatching!

I just finished watching the male stand up and go to the edge of the nest to defecate. While he was away doing his business, I was looking over the eggs for any pip holes, I thought I saw one, but then when the male came back and rotated the eggs, then I could not see that again. What I may have seen may have just been a piece of a leaf or something.  Hatching will be happening soon, so we need everyone to be watching the eggs and looking for any holes or cracks in the eggs.

I will post a new blog topic tomorrow.

Incubation time, be careful!

Have you seen the male and female make the switch for incubation duty?

While the female eagle does most of the incubating, both eagles play a part.

Why does the female spend more time at the nest? For one thing, she’s larger and thus better able to defend the nest and eggs. Eagle eggs are vulnerable to predation from other birds and especially raccoons. Raccoons can climb up the tree and make an easy snack of unattended eggs. Some researchers think predation by raccoons may be a leading cause of nest failure (meaning failure to produce young) for bald eagles.  Although not as common as Raccoon's, Gray Fox are also very adept at climbing trees and will occasionaly predate on eggs and young eagles.  The more commonly seen Red Fox is not a tree climber.

When the female is ready for a break, she will often call for the male. She makes it very clear she’s ready for a break. If you’ve ever heard an eagle scream, you know how fast that male comes back! If he’s lucky, he’s come back with food. Expecting eagle mothers can be pretty demanding.

When male and female are in the nest making a switch or just standing up to change positions over the eggs, they are VERY careful around the eggs. They will even ball up their talons and walk on fists so they don’t risk puncturing one of the precious eggs. They will also gently turn the eggs periodically using their beaks. It’s amazing to see how gently these large predators can be.

Keep them warm and they will hatch!

After all this incubation, finally the eaglets are ready to hatch.

Eaglets initially break through their shell using their tooth. But, eagles don’t have teeth! No they don’t. But eaglets do! It’s called their egg tooth. It’s a pointed bump on the top of their beak, which eaglets use to break out of the shell. This process is called pipping. It can take from twelve to fifty hours after making the first break for the eaglet to be fully hatched.

As the eaglets are hatching, the female will be even more vigilant. The parents will bring back food to the nest to be ready for the hungry new arrivals.

Newly hatched eaglets are covered in soft grayish-white down. They are not yet strong enough to stand up and are incredibly vulnerable. Their eyes are still partially closed and their vision is limited. At this stage, the female very rarely leaves the nest. The male will be doing most of the hunting and bringing back food for the growing eagle family.

Thankfully today this whole process is working, not too far back in time it was not.  In a future blog topic, we will talk about why it was not going so well for the eagle and other raptors.