Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia is home to a pair of bald eagles whose aerie is outfitted with a live webcam to stream all of their activity. After months of restoration to their nest, the female eagle produced two eggs in January. A few weeks ago, the cameras spotted an owl trying to abscond with one of the eggs, though he was unsuccessful.
An eaglet emerged from the first egg on February 22. Unfortunately, it was decided today that the second egg is likely unviable and will not produce a baby eaglet. The eaglet will remain in the nest for a few months before flying away.
The eagle couple first appeared on the Berry College campus in the spring of 2012. The team thought this was odd, as eagles in the south typically nest during the fall. Eagles nesting in the spring is behavior seen in eagles living in the Great Plains. The eagles left a month later, but returned in October to repair their nest and breed. In January of 2013, two eaglets were hatched.
Bald eagles mate for life, though they are quick to find another mate if their partner dies. The act of copulation is fairly daring. The couple flies high into the air and interlock their talons and then dive toward the ground, unlocking at the last moment. They don’t actually mate in the air, but will do it in a tree or on the ground. Occasionally, the couple remains intertwined and actually hits the ground. This can result in them being stunned for hours at a time, before they’ll unlock and fly away.
The female will lay eggs a few days after copulation, and it takes a little over a month for them to hatch. During this time, the female spends the majority of the time warming the eggs, though the male will share incubation duty as well.
The live feed runs 24 hours a day, so check out the eagles and their new baby here:
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