Decorah North Eagles and Blogs

Problem at the North Nest

April 26, 2024: DNF. DN18, DN17

As North nest watchers probably know, DN18 swallowed fishing line that appears to have come in with a sucker fish that DNF brought to the nest on April 24. We’ve been monitoring it closely to see if it could clear the line by pulling it out or casting a pellet. The eaglet is eating and behaving normally, but it hasn’t yet managed to remove the line. Eagles eat a lot of indigestible stuff, including sharp bones, and we were hoping

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News and NestFlix from Decorah North and The Flyway

April 24, 2024: Family portrait: DN17, Mr. North, DN18, DNF

DN17 and DN18 turn 30 and 31 days old today! The dynamic duo are tracking and paying attention to life outside the nest: the place that their parents come from and go to, often bearing food, and the world that their parents see, hear, and respond to: birds overhead, animals on the ground, other eagles, one another. It’s a wonderful look at the ways in which instinct and imprinting unlock an important behavior and all the learning that goes with

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Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Four

April 19, 2024: DN17 and DN18

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week four in this blog. During week three (fourteen to twenty-one days), the dynamic duo shed most of their natal down, gained

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Oh poop shoot! What is bird poop and how do birds poop?

April 16, 2024: Mr. North, DN17, and DN18. It's hard to separate food and metabolic waste when they exit from the same place.

Oh poop shoot! After a long, wet morning snuggled under Mombrella and Poptent, DN17 and DN18 needed to let it fly! Wonderful moments like this inevitably lead to questions and comments like “What is bird poop?” and “Does bird poop stink?” and ‘Ewwww…where did I put those wet wipes?‘ So what is bird poop and how do birds poop? Defecation and Excretion If someone tells us their dog pooped, defecated, or excreted, we know that the dog dropped a solid.

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What are feathers? What is molt?

Feather Follicle

Eaglets go through two molts and three feather stages in the nest: natal down (and molt), followed by thermal down (and molt), followed by juvenile feathers. As of this blog, the Decorah North eaglets are shedding the very last of their natal down and their thermal down is rapidly being replaced by juvenile down and feathers. We thought we would blog a little more about feathers to celebrate!  When we think about feathers, we tend to think about their qualities

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April 15, 2024: NestFlix and News From Decorah North, the Trempealeau eagles, and N1

April 15, 2024: Natal down mohawks, thermal down bodies.

Time to Nestflix and chill! At Decorah North, our grey grey tweagles are eating fish tails, sprouting pinfeathers and mohawks, coughing up pellets, and making all of their milestones! At Trempealeau, Mrs. T brings in an impressively large suckerfish and she and Mr. T defend the nest from a barred owl. The geese jumped this morning. Five of the six survived and the little family paddled downstream this morning. Perhaps we’ll see them below N2B or at the hatchery pond!

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Second-Week Milestones: An Illustrated Book!

April 6, 2024: Day 12 and 13

(More than) an eaglet a day: an illustrated book of DN17 and DN18’s second week of life! Click through the photos to see and read about their milestones and behaviors. Thanks to our camera operators, our moderators, and STLbf on our forum for photos, information, and text! April 4, 2024: Grey thermal down tracts are peeking out between feathery white natal tufts, the eaglets are more alert and aware of their surroundings, and they have enough strength, balance, and coordination

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April 8, 2024: What are we looking forward to this week? News and NestFlix from around our Nests!

April 6, 2024: Look at those clown clompers! The eaglets' feet and legs have turned orange and are growing rapidly. It won't be long before they can stand on their feet.

What a weekend! The second eaglet hatched at Trempealeau, a male eagle – Mr. T? – has finally started to help with brooding and stocking the pantree, and the tiny North nest bobbleheads were replaced by great growing eaglets in grey flannel pajamas. We’re looking forward to hatch at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain nest on or around April 10, hatch at the N1 goose nest next weekend, and the leap of faith a day or two later. It’s springtime

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Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Three

April 6, 2024: Sleeping - and dreaming! are part of eaglet growth and development.

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week three in this blog. DN17 and DN18 turned 15 and 14 days old today. During week two (seven to 14 days),

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