Lydia wrote:


> I've been following the Eagle Cam Eaglets since early May when they had
> just hatched. They seem so huge now! When will the begin their practice
> flights?

Typically young Bald Eagles can fledge anywhere between 8 and 12 weeks of
age. Here in the Seattle area most of them make their first successful
flights around 11 weeks of age. When the young are about 8 or 9 weeks old
they start venturing out on branches next to the nest.

> Are they leaning out the nest and surveying what's below?

>From the time the young were about two weeks old and big enough to look over
the edge of the nest, they have been surveying what goes on outside the
nest. But it isn't until they are about seven to nine weeks old before they
really start showing a keen interest in what anybody does. They learn some
basic skills from watching their parents. They seem to find anything else of
interest. From the starlings and sparrows that come to collect grasses from
the eagle nest to keeping an eye on visiting eagles, especially when the
adults perch near the nest and scream at the visitors to announce the fact
that the territory is occupied.

One time I watched when the whole family (2 adults, 2 6-week-old chicks)
were "home" in the nest in Discovery Park. The male had just brought in a
fish and appeared particularly excited, he had his bill open and tongue
sticking out (eagles pant like dogs when they get hot), and all four of them
stood in the nest looking down at the freshly delivered prey. Then, from
below, I could see what the excitement was all about: the fish was very much
alive and could be seen flopping around in the nest, jumping high enough to
be visible over the rim of the nest (I was standing 110 feet lower and
several hundred yards away than the nest). Then the fish jumped right out of
the nest and next thing I know four eagles moved to the edge and stood
staring down to where the fish had disappeared.

> Another question, how big around is the nest and how deep is it?
> Sometimes it looks like NOBODY'S home. Does it have a daylight
> basement or something?

A full-grown eagle has a wing span anywhere from six to seven and a half
feet, and stand roughly three feet tall. So compare the eagle's size to the
nest to get an indication of nest size (nest height will be difficult from a
camera view from above).

A "small" nest probably has about a six foot diameter and is only 3 feet
deep. Part of the eagle's courtship & breeding biology is the action of
building a nest (they "have" to build). So even if a nest survives the
nesting season (and young approaching fledging can do a lot of damage during
flight practice & hours of "boredom"), if the same nest location is used the
following year the eagles will build on top of the old nest. Consequently
eagle nests can get huge. Fifteen feet in diameter and ten or more feet
high. One nest built on a rock apparently grew to more than 20 feet high
over the years and when the structure toppled off the rock, it weighed more
than a ton. I have not looked at the eagle cam nest you mention recently,
but I assume that part of the nest is outside the camera's field of view, so
the birds can be off camera. Then again, the young may have fledged and only
periodically return to the nest. In my experience in the Seattle area the
young remain in their parents' territory for about one month after fledging,
the they take off on their own. Shortly hereafter the adults leave the
territory too.

Before you or anybody else asks: young in our area appear to take off and
head north along the coast. This was discovered from birds outfitted with
radio transmitters. A couple of years ago one young from Discovery Park
ended up on the ground prematurely. It was taken to Woodland Park Zoo for
rehabilitation. All it needed was some supplemental food and flight
practice. It was released back into its parents' territory and over the
objections of its sibling (who had received all the food the adults supplied
for two weeks) the adults resumed feeding it. When this young one left I
happend to be present and I followed the bird's fading signal to the north.
The following morning I intercepted the bird's signal up at Whidbey Island,
still heading north. The assumption is that a northerly course will put
these young on a trajectory intersecting rivers with abundance of fish and
concentrations of older eagles they can learn from. When conditions get
unfavorable up north (December/January) the birds start heading south again.
That's when you typically start seeing large concentrations in river deltas
like the Skagit and Samish flats. The eaglet's only worry at this time of
their lives is to survive: find enough food and conserve energy.

Hope this answers your questions

For additional information I highly recommend Mark Stalmaster's book "The
Bald Eagle" (Universe Books, New York, 1987).

Martin Muller, Seattle