Two young Bald Eagles. They don't have the trademark white head yet.
Time to Fly.....This is how the Eagles get their young to fly from the nest....
The.....EAGLET
Each time a parent
came flying in to toward the nest he called for food eagerly; but over and over
again, it came with empty feet, and the eaglet grew thinner. He pulled meat
scraps from the old dry-up carcasses lying around the nest. he watched a
sluggish carrion beetle, picked it up gingerly, and ate it. His first kill.
Days passed, and as
he lost body fat be became quicker in his movements and paddled ever more
lightly when the wind blew, scarcely touching the nest edge; from time to time
he was airborne for a moment or two.
Parents often flew
past and sometimes fed him. Beating his wings and teetering on the edge of the
nest, he screamed for food whenever one flew by. And a parent often flew past
just out of reach, carrying delectable meals: a half-grown jack rabbit or a
plump rat raided from a dump. Although he was hungry almost all the time, he
was becoming more playful as he lost his baby fat; sometimes, when no parent
bird was in sight, he pounced ferociously on a scrap of prairie dog skin or on
old bits of dried bone.
The male eaglet
stayed by himself for the most part. He was no longer brooded at night. Hunger
and the cold mountain nights were having their effect, not only on his body but
on his disposition. A late frost hit the valley, and a night wind ruffled his
feathers and chilled his body. When the sunlight reached the eyrie's (the brood
in a nest of a bird of prey) edge, he sought its warmth; and soon, again, he
was bounding in the wind, now light and firm-muscled.
A parent flew by,
downwind, dangling a young marmot in its feet. The eaglet almost lost his
balance in his eagerness for food. Then the parent swung by again, closer,
upwind, and riding the updraft by the eyrie, as though daring him to fly.
Lifted light by the wind, he was airborne, flying--or more gliding--for the
first time in his life. He sailed across the valley to make a scrambling,
almost tumbling landing on a bare knoll. As he turned to get his bearings the
parent dropped the young marmot nearby. Half running, half flying he pounced on
it, mantled, and ate his fill.
Nesting cycle - From the time the parents build the nest and the young are on their own, takes about 20 weeks. During the nesting cycle the parents remain within one to two miles of the nest. |
It will take 5 years for an Eaglet to get it's white head and yellow beak. |
Red Headed woodpecker looking out for her young. We think there was a nest in this hole in the tree. She was very attentive to it. Beautiful bird...
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