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Tag Archives: Development

When will DH2 fledge?

June 12, 2023 RaptorResource

When will DH2 fledge? Our little eaglet will turn 67 days old this afternoon and has been learning its wings and building its strength as it wingercizes, jumps, bounces, and generally trampolines around the nest. While we don’t have an exact date of departure, we do know that: Male eaglets develop more quickly and tend to fledge earlier than their female siblings, although there is some overlap. In ‘The Bald Eagle’, Mark Stalmaster states that ‘…a single fledgling will fledge

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Four

April 28, 2023 RaptorResource

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), DH2 shed most of its natal down, gained a lot

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Three

April 25, 2023 RaptorResource

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. DH2 turns 18 days old today. During week two (seven to 14 days), its footpads and talons

Read more Decorah North Eagles, News

Eaglet Growth and Development, Week Two

April 18, 2023 RaptorResource

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 two in this blog. In their second week of development, eaglets gain roughly two pounds, experience rapid growth in features like

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week One

April 12, 2023 RaptorResource

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

March 15, 2023: ID’ing eagles at a bald eagle-palooza on the Mississippi River Flyway!

March 15, 2023 RaptorResource

It’s a bald eagle-palooza on the Mississippi Flyway! While bald eagles are well-equipped to deal with snow and cold, they can’t fish when the water is covered with a thick layer of ice. These eagles – and many other species – are following the ice line north. As soon as the ice opens up, breeding adults will swiftly wing their way back to their territories. Non-breeders, especially immature juvenile and subadult birds, will probably follow a little later. They don’t

Peek inside a bald eagle egg: 4 days!

February 27, 2023 RaptorResource

As of this writing, we’re still waiting for eggs at Fort St. Vrain. The first Decorah North egg is seven days old and the second is four days old. What do embryonic eagles look like as they grow and develop 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 not all bald eagle eggs hatch in 35 days, the

Learning Eagle Table Manners

May 12, 2022 RaptorResource

We were asked about eaglet growth and development during our explore.org Bird Week chat yesterday. Bald eagles spend about the first half of nest life – say, 35 to 40 days – gaining weight, growing limbs and feet, and growing and replacing feathers. In stage two – about 40 to 75 or 80 days – they begin preparing for life beyond the nest by building muscle, exploring their new wings, learning to unzip prey and feed themselves, and practicing their

Read more Decorah North Eagles, News

Oh poop shoot!

April 11, 2022 RaptorResource

Oh poop shoot! As the eaglets get stronger and more coordinated, they begin to paint the nest and crib rails white with slices, splashes, and stripes of poop. But sometimes parents – DNF in this case – get in the way! DN16 does its very best to shoot poop out of the nest, but hits DNF instead. Wonderful moments like this inevitably lead to questions like “What is bird poop?” and “What do eagle Moms and Dads think about this?”.

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Monday Morning North Milestones and Eaglet Movie Marathon!

April 11, 2022 RaptorResource

We have your Monday morning North milestones and movie marathon! The Decorah North eaglets turn 16 and 15 days old today. While the wet, chilly weather put a damper on nestploration in their second week, we thrilled to several milestones, including a first fish tail (DN15), a first pellet cast (after the fish tail), emerging thermal down, and huge cropzillas on both eaglets! Pellet Casting Why is pellet casting a big deal? Eagle parents feed their hatchlings ‘baby food’ –

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