DH2 enters its sixth week of life today! During week five, our not-so-little eaglet got better at eating rough pieces of food, self-feeding, standing, and shooting poop. It wingercized unwieldy wings, began building leg and flight muscles as it hopped and stomped, played house, tween-preened the keratin sheaths that covered its emerging wing and tail feathers, and lost the last remnant of its egg tooth on May 10. If DH2 wasn’t sprawling around the nest, it was pestering Mom and Dad, demanding snacks, and raiding the pantree for nestovers. HD and HM seem a bit bemused by their great grey tweagle. Where did that downy head, those tiny features, and that wavering stalk of a neck go?
Diction-aerie word of the Day: Tweagles: Teen eagles – a little awkward and always hungry! | tweagles
Who feeds DH2 more, HD or HM? To date, HM has been the primary feeder, but that might change. Here’s what this week looked like:
- On May 5th, 6th, and 7th, HM did almost all of the feeding. The family enjoyed a shared meal together on May 6th.
- On May 8th, HM fed three times and HD fed two times.
- On May 9th, HM fed twice and HD fed four times. I believe this is the first day that he’s done the majority of the feedings.
- On May 10th, HM fed twice and HD fed five times.
- On May 11, HM fed four times and HD fed twice.
Last year, Mr. North took over the majority of feedings at the north nest in April and did a much higher percentage of feeding in May. Self-feeding took over from parental feedings in mid-May, and May 23 marked the first day with no parental feedings, although DNF and Mr. North faithfully continued to deliver meals to their loudly squeeing offspring. We’ll be watching for the same thing here, plus more wingersizing, trampolining, and preening in the weeks to come!
Videos
May 12, 2023: HM resplendent in spring’s green splendor.
May 11, 2023: HM brings floppy fish, it startles DH2 at 2:40 in – https://youtu.be/msyvbAreHd0. Watch the whole video or go to 2:40 to see DH2 get startled by a floppy fish!
May 11, 2023: Late p m DH2 closeups – https://youtu.be/0qZywDqINGM. Exactly as the title says! We get a wonderful look at DH2, including its beak – no egg tooth left! – its emerging covert and flight feathers, the last dandelion puffs of down on its head, and its yellow feet and long sharp talons – mostly black now! DH2 is growing into its clown clompers and its large footpads no longer look quite so comically oversized!
May 11, 2023: DH2’s clown clompers are big, but no longer outsized. Look at those talons!
May 10, 2023: Like father, like son or daughter – https://youtu.be/8dwOjezLc3Q. The video opens with a really wonderful look at HD silhouetted against a bright blue sky framed by vivid green leaves. He arrives in the nest at 2:09 and stands up next to HD at 3:13. Remember when DH2 was a tiny little bobble head? Check out 3:50 – a true like father, like son or daughter moment! – to compare it next to the parental yardstick and watch at 4:17 as it steals a fish! DH2 is nearly as large and learning eagle table manners quickly! The two begin sharing their meal at 4:38. I really enjoyed this video – it was wonderful to watch DH2 learning from and imitating HD’s behavior.
May 11, 2023: DH2 shows off its warbling skills as it furls and unfurls its unwieldy wings!
May 9, 2023: DH2 wingercizes, tiny hop, faceplant – https://youtu.be/4oeK5jw8qbI. Look at those tiny little hops and unwieldy wings! Fledge is just over a month away, but DH2 is already feeling the pull of its wings! Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll see wingercizing turn into a flap-a-thon and tiny hops turn into trampolining as DH2 builds the muscle and coordination it needs to take its first flight!
The Raptor Resource Project