Baby Eagles welcomed by their parents; My Pet Eagles!

On By Zalee
Incubating baby eagles

Baby Eagles welcomed by their parents; My Pet Eagles!

CLICK HERE to read my blog about how I fell in love with “My Pet Eagles and their baby eagles!”      I am not the specialist. I am using my blogs to bring more attention to these magnificent birds by sharing my affection them with you.  I cannot provide daily updates. My goal is for you to start following these birds yourself.

Blog: My Pet Eagles – A Virtual Experience

Blog: Baby Eagles Welcomed By Their Parents – My Pet Eagles

Blog: Eagles Rescued in DC is a Story of Heroism and Love

Blog:  Vote Baby Names for DC Baby Eagles

Blog: Honor and Glory are the names of the two baby eagles!

Also, please consider supporting the DC Eagle Cam by purchasing a TeeShirt.

Below is the story of Mr. President (Dad/Mr. P) and The First Lady’s (Mom/TFL) baby eagles; hatched during their 2017 mating season. (NOTE: All pictures and video content is copyrighted material belonging to the American Eagle Foundation (AEF). 

5Apr night time the pair checks in with each other.
Today was April 5th. Both babies are almost a week old. They are getting used to a routine. They know mom from dad. They know each other well enough to compete for food. This picture was snapped by AEF at night. Here you can tell the difference between each parent. Daddy is in the background with the broad face and jagged neckline; when the two stand together, daddy is a tad bit smaller than mom. Mom is in the front. Her neckline is tailored and she has an overlay that gives her that vicious look. No wander he chose to mate with her. She is beautiful.

Tuesday night, March 28, 2017, baby eagle a.k.a. DC4 begin to PIP its egg shell. The rest of the night, it pipped, pipped, and pipped until it cracked through and hatched. This baby eagle kept its mother up all night checking to make sure it made a safe arrival during the 12-hour hatching period.

baby eagle cracks its egg.
DC4 baby eagle cracks through its egg shell.

DC4 Baby eagle is ready

 

DC4 baby eagle Hatches at 7:21AM Mar29
Baby Eagle (DC4) picks through its egg all night; hatches through at 7:21am 29Mar17
baby eagle hatches face not fully formed
Hello DC4. We welcome our newest baby eagle. Fresh out of its egg. Face had not formed.

At 7:21am, Wednesday, March 29th, baby eagle (DC4) completely hatched. It looked like a grey cotton ball with a tiny prick of a beak with no mouth or eyes. We could hear chirping but we could not see its mouth until around 9am when baby eagle had a tiny face seen here laying in the sun on its unhatched sibling’s egg.  

Baby eagle DC4 rests on unhatched egg of sibling
Hours after it hatched, baby eagle (DC4) rests on the unhatched egg of its sibling.
MrP brings food for TFL to start feeding baby eagle
Mr. P will keep food in this nest until the baby eagles leave the nest.
DC4 ready to eat at 6-hours old
DC4’s face is fully formed, baby eagle is ready to eat at 6-hours old.
resting with baby eagles
Finally able to get a good nights sleep after the arrival of baby eagle (DC4). Incubating unhatched egg DC5. 30March at 1:30am

Last month (February/2017), I posted a Blog Post entitled: “My Pet Eagles – A Virtual Experience!”. The blog details how I fell in love with this pair of mated Bald Eagles that in 2014, nestled in a beautiful landscape inside of a pristine park located in the Northeastern section of Washington, DC; known as The Arboretum.

Click Here – To read my blog about my virtual experience with my pet eagles; Mr. President (Mr. P – the daddy eagle) and The First Lady (TFL – the mother eagle).

As promised, I would post my next blog when the eggs of their 2017 mating season hatched. Well, it took 36 days for the first egg (DC4) that was laid on February 19th to hatch. The second eaglet will be called DC5 was laid on February 23rd; hatched March 30th.

If you are interested in learning more about the processes for how these two eagles incubated and cared for their two eggs, Click Here.

The purpose of this blog is to highlight the major events associated with My Pet Eagles and their baby eagles laid and hatched during the 2017 Mating Season.

  1. Did you know that this pair got married and nestled in the DC Arboretum in 2014; they were named Mr. President and The First Lady. In 2015 this pair had their first baby eagle (DC1), and in 2016, when I met the couple, they had two baby eagles, DC2 and DC3 – that were later named Freedom and Liberty.
  2. Did you know that Bald Eagles lived upwards of 25 years?
  3. Did you know that Bald Eagles mate for life?
  4. Did you know that the married couple will mate during the same time every year?
  5. Did you know that the mother and father eagles will work together to feed, incubate, nurture, discipline, and keep the nest?
  6. Did you know that an adult Bald Eagle have 7000+ waterproof feathers? They use the chest part of their bodies to incubate eggs and keep their babies warm; those 7000 feathers come in handy to protect their bodies in inclement weather. when they spread their wings, these feathers cover the nesting bowl.
  7. Did you know that the mated pair of Bald Eagles are affectionate and have sex often?
  8. Watch this video by YouTube’s CherylNV. Videoed in January, 2017 after the nest for this year’s mating season was secured and readied for nesting, this video shows how the pair prepared the nest for this year’s mating season – even testing it for heavy landing.
  9. Did you know that with the exception of feathers, nothing is lost. The entire animal or fish is eaten.

It is also my goal to drive traffic to My Pet Eagle’s web site. I will update this blog with pictures and videos that show how these two cute baby eagles grow up in the nest together.

Below are YouTube videos of the hatching of the first baby eagle a.k.a. DC4. Each video shows a different angle of the hatching so that you can see what the baby eagle and mother eagle is doing during the hatch period (March 28 & 29, 2017).

  1. @EAGLESDOTORG welcomes DC4
  2. YouTube’s “birdbrain56” welcomes baby eagle DC4 hatch from a different angle
  3. YouTube’s “bellamoonnature” welcomes DC4 different angle. This video shows Mr. P bringing TFL a huge catfish and watches over her nesting.

March 30th 31st – both baby eagles have hatched and nurturing has begun.

VIDEOS TO WATCH:

  1. Baby Eagles, YouTube’s “American Eagle Foundation” DC5 PIP and started cracking through its shell 30Mar at 6:55am
  2. Baby Eagles talks to each other; one through the egg as it hatches. Dad feeds and incubates both babies. (YouTube’s “birdbrain56”)
  3. First 24-hours mom and dad feed each other and feeds DC4 while DC5 s hatching. (YouTube’s “birdbrain56”)
  4. Feeding in the rain on March 31st. DC4 is four days old and DC5 is two days old. In this video, Mom feeds the babies and daddy brings home a duck that he killed and plucked in the field before bring it to the nest. Very thoughtful of him; especially since TFL has been complaining about the messy nest and all of the flies buzzing around the food. (Video produced by YouTube’s “Birdbrain56”)
  5. The competitive games have begun. DC4 is older than DC5; therefore it can poke its younger sibling over food. But don’t count the puny little DC5 out. He know how to pay its sibling back for the miss-treatment. Remember these birds are a part of nature. As stated on their web site, anything could happen. They are young now. so this little spat is just cute. In a month, mom and dad will be disciplining the siblings because the spats over food will be more hostile. YouTube’s CherylNV did a marvelous job producing this video and picturing this spat between these newly hatched baby eagle siblings.
  6. On April 4th, Dad brings home a huge fish. The nest is already full of fish. Mom is already frustrated with the amount of flies that is buzzing and bugging her and her babies and here comes dad with another monstrous size fish. She doesn’t realize it, but he is trying to impress her. She fussing at him. She looks around at all those fish parts scattered all over her nest and those dam flies. She shows him the nest that needs to be cleaned and all of a sudden, she just flies away. Watch dad stand around as if he trying to figure out what to do. She really needs a break. Watch the video… their story is so human-like. Great job YouTube’s “Birdbrain56” I am too excited to bring the story line of this family together so that you newcomers can do what we all have done; fall in love with America’s mated Bald Eagles!
  7. Well its April 5th; the day after the big fight. And just like true married couples that argue, they cannot stay mad at each other for long. In this video, the nest is cleaned and organized. YouTube’s “Bellamoonnature” captures this couple in love and working together to feed their babies and setting an example of love. The babies are learning how to respect their parents and are not acting out over food. Awesome!
Mom and daddy eagle discuss shifts
Now that parents are certain that by this time tomorrow, mom and daddy eagle discuss care taking, hunting, and feeding shifts.
DC4 listens to parents; DC5 hatches
Baby Eagles listens and learns their parents leadership.
Mom feeds baby eagle
TFL feeds DC4 while DC5 is hatching. Baby eagles are doing fine.

Dad feeds baby eagle DC4

Parent shows care to newly hatched baby eagle

As vicious as this predator hunter is, look at how gently he holds his tiny young baby eagle that is barely 24-hours old. The love these parents show each other is an example for all humans. The sensitive nature by which they are able to raise their babies should be the blueprint for every parent. In 2016, I was awe struck at how these parents provided for and disciplined their two baby eagles DC2 Liberty and DC3 Freedom. I know what to expect this year with this family. I understand why the Bald Eagle is America’s Iconic bird. – AMAZING!

Watch the video produced by YouTube’s “Birdbrain56” that captures the rainy day feeding activities.

Birdseys view from the nest
This is the awesome view this mated Bald Eagle pair and their baby eagles have of their surroundings in the Arboretum.
31Mar Dad eagle sleeps in the rain
Protecting his babies, daddy eagle is sleeping in one of his many sleeping positions during a rainy spring night. (Copyright AEF)

From this point onward, both parents will rotate incubating their baby eagles, they will both hunt and make sure food is available for round the clock feedings until both baby eagles permanently leave this nest, which will be sometime this July.

Both parents will eat solid meat from the food they provide for the nest. The soft or more fluid innards of the animal or fish caught for food is fed to the baby eagles until they are able to eat solids just like their parents. These birds get their water from the moisture in the food they eat.

The parents will protect their baby eagles every day and night from weather, insects, other predators, and each other. These birds are hunters, they are vicious, they are predators, their parents will discipline and keep them from being competitive against each other for attention and food.

These parents will administer a healthy dose of discipline when their baby eagles make any attempt to overthrow their authority.

I will not be able to post a blog every day. I invite you to engage in and participate in watching this pair raise their two babies. Click Here and Bookmark the website for the DCEAGLECAM The CAM is on 24-hours a day. At night, it uses infrared to help us see clearly; however, there is no light to disturb the family. We hear the environmental noises around the nest and we hear the sounds these eagles make. We learn how they call each other. How they discipline their baby eagles becomes moments that you want to share with people you know.

I recommend you share this information with people that you know that have children, with teachers that teach animal behaviors, and to the sick and shut in that need something positive to look forward to in their lives.

Because there is too much day to day activity to monitor, I am not able to post daily blogs. My goal is to share information about the virtual experience I have with My Pets.

Going forward, I will provide updates for major events or activities involving this family.

Please sign up for educational chats. Please donate and support the American Eagle Foundation. These Eagles start their day at day break and they go until they bed down for the night; generally around 10:30pm EST.

Special Note: The baby eagles are known as DC4 and DC5 because of the numerical order in which they were born. Last year 2016 was the first year that the American Eagle Foundation used an Eaglet Naming Contest that resulted in naming DC2 and DC3 Liberty and Freedom. This year a naming contest has already started. NOTE: Thank all that participated the Naming Contest for this pair of eaglets. The first round of naming DC4 & DC5 has now ended. The top five name pairs will be released for a final vote to the public on April 24. I will post an update then.

To get familiar with these lovable baby eagles, read my blogs.

  1. Blog: My Pet Eagles – A Virtual Experience
  2. Blog: Baby Eagles Welcomed By Their Parents – My Pet Eagles
  3. Blog: Eagles Rescued in DC is a Story of Heroism and Love
  4. Blog: Honor and Glory are the names of the two baby eagles

 

Eagle CAM

 

In the meantime, please consider supporting the DC Eagle CAM by purchasing this TeeShirt.

CLICK HERE

All pictures and videos are Copyrighted Material of The American Eagle Foundation

Thanks to @dceaglecam, @eaglesdotorg, all of the many sponsors and government agencies, and to all of the volunteers who spend countless hours monitoring the CAM 24-hours a day, conducting the education chat sessions, and for they do to make our experience with these mated Bald Eagles and their precious baby eagles memorable and enjoyable.