We have your NestFlix! I enjoyed all of these videos, but I especially loved DH2 getting feisty with Dad (go, DH2!), the tiny cute PS, and the close-up of Mother Goose! We hope you enjoy the videos as much as we did and we’re looking forward to our hatch fundraiser tomorrow! Looking for more hatchling eaglets? The Fort St. Vrain nest started hatch yesterday! You can watch that site here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/ and keep up with it on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/445733962172528.
Decorah Eagles
April 12, 2023: An eagle-tude fit for royalty!
April 11, 2023: DH2 gets a little feisty with Dad! https://youtu.be/6uTuC68g0AY. DH2 has had four good feedings today, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hungry! HD comes into the nest, but instead of feeding, he begins excavating – digging deeply into the nest with his beak and loosening the substrate beneath the egg cup. DH2 disapproves of HD’s priority and lets him know with a few lunges and nips!
April 11, 2023: A tiny adorable poop shoot!
April 11, 2023: HM launches, DH2 does cute tiny PS – https://youtu.be/CZ1azg2lYNA. When HM decides to leave, she gets up and goes! DH2 is briefly left alone in the nest on a warm and windy day! HD comes in and stands guard while DH2 sits up, little tail pumping. What’s going on? At 55 seconds, DH2 shoots poop – an excellent sign that it’s being fed!
Followers sometimes wonder how nestling eaglets stay hydrated! Birds in general don’t use as much water as we do, since water is heavy and flight requires them to be light. They don’t sweat and they convert nitrogenous wastes to pasty white uric acid, which requires a lot less water than urine. DH2’s white poop shoot indicates that it’s outstinkts (aka the diction-aerie defined instinct to shoot poop out of the nest) are working well and it is getting plenty of water.
April 11, 2023: HD brings a fish head – https://youtu.be/FKidWwpOC1A. HD drops off a fish head and HM begins feeding DH2 at about 2:56. The two have been keeping DH2 fed, although perhaps not as much as the little peaglet would like! We know that bird beaks are specialized for feeding and daily tasks. Birds of prey have strong, curved beaks with sharp edges to help them tear meat. Falcons specialize even further, adding a tomial tooth to help them kill prey. Dabbling ducks have tiny, comb-like structures on their beaks to strain small animals, insects, and plants from water and mud, while piscivorous ducks have saw-like structures to help them hold on to struggling fish. But what about bird tongues or, more specifically, bald eagle tongues? Are they specialized as well? Learn more here: https://www.raptorresource.org/2023/04/11/bald-eagle-tongues-and-beaks/.
Decorah Geese
April 11, 2023: Mother Goose.
April 11, 2023: Mother Goose Close-up – https://youtu.be/86QRuIDARdU. These lovely closeups are for all you fans of Mother Goose! I plan to write a little bit more about her later this week, especially since we’ve seen some interesting aggression from other geese and I’d like to write more about her sensitive beak and tongue. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this video. MG is beautiful!
The Raptor Resource Project