We have your Decorah Eagles videos! Sometimes I can pick favorites, but I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these. D34 and D35 are turning 38 days old today, and little D36 is turning 35 days old. For about the first half of nest life, eaglets grow and gain weight. For about the second half of nest life, eaglets grow flight feathers and start developing the skills they need for life beyond the nest. We’re seeing that right now as the eaglets pay attention to things outside the nest, help Mom with the housework, steal fish, and try to unzip prey on their own. I hope you find these videos as delightful as we did!
Thanks to our camera operators for finding such special moments, our video makers for sharing them, and you for watching, learning, sharing, and especially for caring!
Decorah Eagles
May 12, 2020: D34 stands tall next to Mom
May 12, 2020: D36 and D35
May 12, 2020: Beautiful ultra-closeups, eaglet feet and feathers – https://youtu.be/jMqXFCLTBLw. Exactly what the title says! Enjoy flexing yellow feet, spicules, black and taupe talons, different feather textures, crib rail pillows, and an eaglet perhaps a little closer to the crib rails than we like! At halfway through nest life, the eaglets are showing a lot of curiosity about life beyond the nest. D35 and D36 (back to front) are featured at the beginning of the video, while D34 is sprawled out across the nest.
May 11, 2020: D34 strikes a pose – https://youtu.be/7b2ODHXwgng. Namely, a heraldic pose at 45 seconds! D34 sits up, spreads its wings, kicks back in the barc-a-lounger, and relaxes until something we can’t see startles it. Towards the end of the video, it nibbles at a piece of fur-jerky that isn’t digestible enough for even a hungry eaglet before settling down into the cuddle puddle at the botttom of the nest.
May 11, 2020: D36 tries hard, can’t unzip the fish – https://youtu.be/3FmdlVHKj0o. Food can be so confusing! The eaglets have watched Mom and DM2 unzip fish after fish, but D36 hasn’t quite learned the trick yet! Foot on fish? Check! Pull the fish up? Check! Try different spots on the fish? Check! D36 can’t quite get its lower mandible in for the leverage needed to carve a fish, but it sure tries! Check out the warble starting at 4:54 – it’s extremely funny and a nice end to the fishy shenanigans.
May 11, 2020: Mom brings a stick, Mom’s little helpers – https://youtu.be/JvomN70on2s. Mom flies in at 52 seconds with a large forked stick. She corrals D36, who seems a little confused by her antics and joins her in moving it up and away. The stick fun continues as D36 helps Mom move the stick wherever she wants it to go, following it across the nest to make sure it gets to the right place! It looks like someone is getting an early start on their stick obsession…
May 9, 2020: Fun feeding, eaglet steals the fish – https://youtu.be/oNqUcFK1Sn4. The eagles are practicing such nice table manners as Mom feeds them – taking turns with no bonking, squabbling, or interactions. Suddenly D35 (I think) grabs the fish from Mom and tries to eagle it down whole! Mom takes it back and resumes feeding D35. Crop-propped D36 sneaks in a few bites from behind until 7:12, when D35 takes the prize and gulps the rest of the fish down! Mom clears up a few tiny nestovers and flies up the Skywalk to feak her beak.
If you’d like to see more pictures of the eaglets and their world, visit our forum (you don’t need to be a member to view photos and posts) at https://www.raptorresource.org/forum/index.php?topic=2624.3390 or Explore.org’s website at https://explore.org/snapshots/decorah-eagles/.
The Raptor Resource Project