Decorah North Eagles and Blogs

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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April 2, 2024: News and NestFlix from Decorah North, Decorah, and Great Spirit Bluff

April 2, 2024: A snowy shift change. This reminds me of the care Mom and Dad took with their eaglets, who stayed safe and warm in the worst spring weather.

The wind blew and the rain and snow flew, but DNF and Mr. North fed the eaglet crew! The terrific two ate nine times today so far, including a dual feeding by Mr. North (DN18) and DNF (DN17). The P’s shielded their eaglets from the wind and snow and got food in them quickly before Mombrella settled them under her warm feathers. This winter has felt like one long April Fool’s joke, with the punchline ending – we hope? –

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March 29, 2024: News and NestFlix from Decorah North and GSB

March 28, 2024: I love family feedings. Mr. North and DNF work together - more or less - to feed their young.

Fast-forward to a shallow stream 15,000 years ago. Suckers are making their way upstream to spawn. Suddenly, an eagle swoops down and hooks one to bring to his waiting young, who are clamoring hungrily in the nest above. Dad has food. His legacy will survive into a future he can’t imagine. Solstice, this Easter weekend, and the arrival of this year’s first suckerfish have me thinking about spring and fall, the great pivots of the year. It fills me with

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Watching Bald Eagles

November 7, 2017: Dad Decorah

This is a flashback post first published on April 26 of 2012. I repost it every year when the eagles begin bringing suckerfish into the nest. For new followers: Bob (Anderson) founded the Raptor Resource Project and was its first director. You can learn more about him here: https://www.raptorresource.org/about-us/remembering-bob-anderson/. Here’s 2024’s first sucker – note that it was big enough to make Mr. North work! https://youtu.be/ax2M02stxuI?si=fjfCIRm8HUcoxTnp. Bob took a turn operating the controls at the bald eagle camera this morning.

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So Hungry! Growing eaglets, growing appetites!

DN17 and DN18 turned three and two days old yesterday! The eaglets aren’t ready wander the nest just yet, but it was fun to see them popping their little periscopes up from beneath DNF and Mr. North’s feathery coverlets. Did the dynamic duo get enough to eat? Our camera operators recorded seventeen feedings from DNF and five from Mr. North. DN17 ate 14 times and DN18 ate 12. I’m surprised they could left their heads for more food by the

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Eaglet Growth and Development: Week One

March 27, 2024: An Eagletude fit for royalty! DN17 and DN18 turned three and two days old today.

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 one in this blog. What can we expect in the first week following hatch? Like humans, a growing eaglet has developmental

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March 26, 2024: NestFlix, News, and Cute Overload from Decorah North and Decorah!

March 26, 2024: Baby's first fish eyeball? This was a large bite for DN17. It took several tries for the eaglet to gulp it all down!

Did the eaglets get enough to eat today? It’s an evergreen question, especially when you see the little bobbleheads shivering in the snow, tumbling over, and wrestling one another instead of eating. Fortunately, Mr. North and DNF are perched at the peak of provisioning! They fed the terrific two thirteen times today, with twelve feedings going to DNF and one going to Mr. North. Wrestlemania or not, the eaglets ate well, with eleven feedings for DN17 and eight for DN18.

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Bald eagle tongues and beaks!

March 25, 2024: DN17 and 18 eat.

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,

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