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Search Results for: development

Peek inside a bald eagle egg: 4 days!

February 20, 2024 RaptorResource

What do embryonic eagles look they look like as they develop and grow inside their eggs? Peek inside a Bald Eagle egg at four days!

February 18, 2024: A second egg for DNF!

February 18, 2024 RaptorResource

DNF laid her second egg today at 2:49 PM nest time. When will her eggs begin hatching? I took a look at our records and saw an interesting variance between 2021 and 2022, although she laid her first and second eggs on the same day both years. In 2021, her first egg hatched on March 25 and her second egg hatched on March 27. In 2022, her first egg hatched on March 27 and her second egg hatched on March

How long does it take a bald eagle to lay an egg?

February 13, 2024 RaptorResource

How long does it take a bald eagle to lay an egg? We think that female bald eagles begin laying eggs five to ten days after productive mating begins.

December 1, 2023: NestFlix and News from Decorah, Decorah North, the Flyway, and La Crosse WI!

December 1, 2023 RaptorResource

We have your Fri-yay NestFlix! In Decorah, HM plays several visits to N1 and we pull out the Confusion Couch for another season of ‘As The Nest Turns’, while Mr. North and DNF have a date night by IR candlelight at the North Nest. Meanwhile, eagle ice skating has started on the Flyway (good thing they have built-in crampons) and was that an American Kestrel at our US Bank Peregrine Falcon nest box in La Crosse? It was! I loved

What’s on the Menu in Decorah?

October 31, 2023 RaptorResource

Trick or treat/smell our feet/give us something good to eat! Happy Halloween, everyone! As part of today’s spooky candy-filled festivities, we wanted to pass out some fish, a few squirrels, and a little information about what HD, HM, and DH2 enjoyed for dinner last year! Between November 2, 2022 and July 13, 2023, our volunteers documented 407 meals. As we’ve seen at other nests, HD was a master provider, bringing in 316 meals to HM’s 91. He was especially active

Where did our eagle parents go?

May 17, 2023 RaptorResource

Some of you have expressed concern that our eagle parents aren’t properly caring for or feeding their young. We’re still seeing plenty of parental care – DH2 got three feedings just this morning! – but we’re also seeing a lot less brooding and a lot more alone time. While at least one eagle parent is always in the area, they aren’t always on the nest. What’s going on? Older eaglets no longer require (or want) continuous brooding, and their parents

From bobble heads to eaglets: Natal down, thermal down, and flight feathers!

May 1, 2023 RaptorResource

As DH2 starts to sprout pinfeathers, we’re getting questions about natal down, thermal down, and juvenile feathers. Unless otherwise stated, the information in this blog applies to altricial birds, although most research in this area has been done on precocial and semi-precocial birds like ducks, geese, and cranes. Altricial and precocial birds have some marked differences in pre-hatch follicular development and post-hatch molts. Natal down, thermal down, and juvenile feathers Does thermal down sprout from natal down pores? Do flight

Peek inside a bald eagle egg: 24 days!

March 24, 2023 RaptorResource

There are two eagle eggs in Decorah trout hatchery nest N1. DH1 is about 27 days old and DH2 is about 25 days old. What do they look like? Let’s take a peek! What do embyronic eagles look they look like as they develop and grow inside their eggs? Dr. Peter Sharpe from the Institute for Wildlife Studies developed a table of bald eagle embryonic development based on work done by Hamburger and Hamilton (1951). While this animation uses a chicken

March 24, 2023: Friday NestFlix and News from Decorah!

March 24, 2023 RaptorResource

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and birds are laying eggs! HD and HM’s eggs should start hatching in about 11 days (April 4th), Ma and Pa Jr’s eggs should start hatching in about 17 days (April 10) and we’re looking forward to eggs at Great Spirit Bluff! Savanna has the sort of pleasantly plump look (a slightly distended lower abdomen and generally chonky appearance) that we associate with eggnancy, so I suspect it will be sooner rather

Egg Colors and Shapes

March 20, 2023 RaptorResource

The Chicago Peregrine Program inspired me to write a quick blog on the colors and shapes of eggs. Bald eagles have white eggs, peregrine falcons have eggs that range from light cream through brick red, and red-tailed hawks have pale eggs that are lightly splotched with brown. How and why do the birds we watch lay differently-colored and shaped eggs? Egg Colors Where do egg colors come from? Once a bird’s egg enters its shell gland or uterus, it is