Tuesday PM

Here's some relevant information from the Cooperative Extension System.

Usually, 2 (1 to 3) white or mottled brownish eggs are laid after nesting behavior begins. The eggs hatch after a 35- to 45-day incubation period. Both adults hunt and secure food for the young, with the female doing most of the incubating, feeding, and brooding. Young eagles become strong enough to tear meat apart by 50 days of age. They are fully feathered and ready to leave the nest 65 to 70 days after hatching. Although the young are as large as the adult birds at this time, their parents may continue to provide them with food and protection for as long as 3 months after they leave the nest.

Not all eagle eggs hatch, and the death rate of young eagles, as in other birds of prey, is high. Young eagles are antagonistic toward each other and the stronger often kills or causes the weaker to die of starvation. Losses due to exposure, diseases, parasites, and predation occur while the young are still in the nest. Up to 75% of the young eagles die during their first year due to starvation, disease, and causes directly or indirectly associated with humans.

New thread.