Tag Archives: Behavior

Birds and Nest-Building

A blackbird's cup nest

When I say ‘bird’s nest’, you know the type of nest I’m talking about, right? It could be a bald eagle’s stick platform high up in the branches of a tree. Or perhaps a peregrine falcon’s scrape in dirt, sand, or gravel on a shallow cliff ledge. Or maybe the burrows that bank swallows and belted kingfishers excavate in dirt, the cavity nests that woodpeckers excavate in dead wood, or the woven nests that orioles and weavers build. When I

Mom and the Subadult: As The Nest Turns

August 9, 2019: Subadult brings sticks to N1

Prepare for another edition of ‘As The Nest Turns’, an episode that opens with the subadult eagle delivering a stick to N1 (https://youtu.be/IhnaGTDgqcA)! Where is DM2? Is the subadult interested in Mom? Is Mom interested in the sub-adult? And why is nest work – if it is nest work – occurring so early? We went to our eagle council with the following questions about DM2. Could he have migrated? Did his ‘shyness’ around Mom indicate a weaker pair bond (followers

Your questions, answered: DM2 and the sub-adult

Unknown four-year old eagle at N2B

We’re getting a lot of questions about the situation in Decorah. Where is DM2? What is the sub-adult doing there? Could this be one of Mom’s offspring? Let’s start with what we know! Where is DM2? We haven’t seen DM2 since July 11, a day before the sub-adult was first seen. Are these two things linked? It’s hard to say. We haven’t seen much of DM2 since the eaglets were taken into SOAR, which would probably seem a lot like

What is up with our eagle Moms?

05/09/19: Mom and DM2

We first blogged on this subject on April 30, 2014, but we’re asked about Mom’s behavior every spring. Wondering where the love went? This blog is for you! We’ve had several questions and comments about our eagle Moms. Why are they so demanding? Why are they mad at their mates? Why are they so mean? While I can find snippets of behavior that seem loving to human observers – shared incubation duty, mutual nest defense, and tandem feedings, to name

Your questions, answered: When will DM2 start feeding?

04/06/19: DM2 and feeding

I asked our moderators for their top questions of the day. You wanted to know: ‘When will DM2 start feeding his young?’. This is our answer.  Note: The morning after this blog was written, D32 did his first feeding! You can watch that here: https://youtu.be/FhMf1CCJtBs It is interesting and sometimes nerve-wracking to watch what is most likely a brand-new eagle father after years of watching Dad, who had eagle fatherhood down. We’re going to talk about what DM2 is doing first:

Thoughts on the Sub-Adult Intruder at DNN

Intruder at Decorah North Nest

We had an intruder at the Decorah North Nest on March 13th. While Dad was in the nest incubating the pair’s single egg, a roughly four-year old female eagle perched on a limb right next to the nest tree. He responded by covering the egg, softly vocalizing, and ruffling his feathers. The whole encounter lasted about fourteen minutes. I approached two eagle experts about the encounter and received some fascinating information and feedback. To learn more, follow this link: http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2016/03/thoughts-on-sub-adult-nest-intruder.html