About the Eagles
The Trempealeau eagles are nesting on private property in the city of Trempealeau, Wisconsin. Their nest is located in a white pine tree overlooking the Mississippi River. In general, the eagles begin courtship in October, productive mating in late January or early February, and egg-laying in mid to late February. Hatching usually begins in late March to early April, and the eaglets fledge in mid-to-late June. While young usually disperse between August and October, the adults remain on territory year round.
The eagles eat live and dead fish, squirrels, other birds, rabbit, muskrat, deer, possum and anything else they can catch or find. To learn more about bald eagles in general, please follow this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.
Adults
For now, we’re referring to the eagles as Mr. and Mrs. T. If that changes, we’ll let everyone know!
Nests
This is the only nest at this site, although others can be seen nearby. The eagles have occupied this nest for at least five years. It is roughly 65 feet off the ground.
Common name: Bald Eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Length: 2.3–3.1 feet | 71–96 cm
Wingspan: 5.9 – 7.5 feet | 1.7-2.2 meters
Weight: 6.5 – 13.8 pounds | 3–6.3 kilograms
Lifespan: Up to 40 years in the wild
Bald Eagle Vocalization
Learn More About Bald Eagles
Posted: November 15, 2024
When will the Decorah and Decorah North eagles begin laying eggs? While nest timing can very from region to region (Florida, for example, is quite different from Iowa), mark your calendars as follows! Eagles in Florida are beginning to lay eggs. Does Mr. and Mrs. T’s recent copulation mean that we’ll soon see eggs there as well? It does not! Bald eagles have been documented copulating ten months of the year, but in the Upper Midwest and Colorado, they don’t
Posted: November 8, 2024
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
Posted: October 31, 2024
The ways in which we watch and learn about birds – HD cameras, high-powered spotting scopes and lenses, satellite transmitters, and DNA analyzers – are new, but our interest in birds is very old. Sacred and magical birds are common in folklore, oral traditions, and religious texts, including the Bible, the Torah, the Qur’an, and the Bhagavad-gita. It’s easy to say that ancient people lacked a global perspective and scientific knowledge, but a quick search for birds + omens shows
Posted: April 19, 2024
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
Posted: April 19, 2024
Do bald eagles go through menopause? Probably not, since we’ve documented menopause or prolonged post-reproductive lifespans in just four species.
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