As I mentioned on the cam page today, I’ve just uploaded six new videos to our Blackwater YouTube Channel. In this web log entry, I’m offering a few higher-quality copies of some of the more interesting videos from our YouTube channel and also offering some discussion about the family behavior on display.

As for the current standing at the nest, our father eagle has been erratic, to put it politely. The mother eagle has had to leave the chicks for long periods (especially in the morning) to go hunting. Sometimes the father returns to sit on the chicks, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he helps feed them (usually with mom’s food), sometimes he doesn’t.

So at this point, we’re just happy that the eaglets seem to be hardy enough to withstand the cold when mom is gone. And we’re also happy that no predators have tried to visit the nest while she’s away. In all fairness to the father, it’s possible he’s sitting in the nest tree or in a nearby tree when the mother is gone — watching over the nest — but of course we can’t see that from our view. And it would definitely be better if he was sitting on the eaglets when it’s only 25 degrees out.

But enough about that, let’s go to the clips. In our first featured clip below, we see the mother eagle flies in with a fish. Both parents seem to be calling out during this video, and we’re not sure who or what they’re calling to, but it could be another bird that was interested in the fish. If you’d like to hear the sound the parents are probably making, listen to this audio file:

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While watching the cam feed at the Refuge, I noticed that one eaglet is a little bigger than the other, so there is a slight size difference. Also, the older eaglet was pecking the younger chick on the head a bit to establish its dominance in the nest (a very normal behavior). One interesting behavior I saw though was that the younger eaglet was also doing its share of pecking at the older bird. In fact, on the day the second chick hatched — when it could barely hold up its head — it was still trying to peck at its older sibling, often falling down in the process.

Pecking is an instinctual trait with eaglets, and seeing as how they do it almost straight out of the egg, you wonder if it might be nature’s way of helping to strengthen the eaglets’ necks so they can later tear up food to feed themselves.

In the second clip, we see some eaglet sibling rivalry on display. At first the older eaglet pecks at the younger bird to make the youngster keep its head down, then the two eaglets play tug-of-war with their beaks. Biologists state that normally parents do not interfere with sibling squabbles, but in this clip it seems that the parent tries to interrupt the pecking both times, and eventually stops the fighting altogether by ending the feeding session and sitting on them.

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In the third clip, we see a feeding session between one parent and the eaglets. The feeding sessions are touching in a way because you can see how patient the parent has to be while trying to feed little eaglets that keep looking around or falling over or dropping the food that the parent passes to them. Sometimes the piece of food is too big, and then the parent bites down on it to make it a bit smaller, and passes it off again. At this stage of their lives, the eaglets definitely require some patience.

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And for our final clip, we see a short look at how the mother eagle settles down for the night — first wiggling herself so she is comfortable over the eaglets, then tucking her beak into her feathers. Biologists state that birds tuck their beaks into their feathers to reduce heat loss during the night.

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We hope you enjoyed these videos — and the two extra videos on YouTube. We’ll try to capture some more shots as the eagles continue to grow and begin developing their all-important feathers.

And thanks again to all those who have been following our birds, watching our videos, emailing questions, and sending in their cam photos. We always appreciate the support our cams receive.

Eagle Cam Merchandise

I wanted to announce that our online Eagle’s Nest Gift Shop is now selling Eagle Cam t-shirts (for adults and kids) and is also selling a DVD video featuring highlights from last season’s nest — the nest with our youngsters Justice and Majesty. If you’d like to help us spread the word about the Blackwater Eagle Cams or if you’d like some souvenirs of our cam but you can’t attend the Eagle Festival on Saturday, this merchandise might be just the thing you’re looking for. So visit our cam store page and check out our new items. Also note that we’re offering a specially priced DVD/t-shirt combo that comes with a free Eagle Cam postcard.

And as a final reminder, all proceeds from our store go toward supporting projects at the Refuge, including our raptor cams.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, eaglet videos, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland