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"Slope's" hack tower companion weighed 8.5 pounds at
release, which is upper mid-range between average female and male
weight. Eagles are already at full adult size when they can first
fly. Females are usually larger than males. Eagles with parents
from northern areas typically also weigh more than those from southern
regions. An Alaskan female can weigh up to 15 pounds and have up
to an 8 foot wing span. A Southern male can weigh as little as
6 pounds with a wing span of about 6 feet. We know for sure from
both their size and records that both "Liberty" and "Justice" are
Alaskan and/or Northern born eagles. The parents of the other bald
eaglet who shared the hack tower with "Slope" came to the AEF from
the San Francisco Zoo and may have originated from Northern California
wild nests.
Left to right: Eaglets are readied to be hoisted up to
the tower; on the way up; release of eaglets.
Information about the hack tower and eaglet
release:
AEF's hack tower
has a 1-way glass on the rear of the hack cages, whereby up to
12 eaglets can be observed in four 8x8x8-foot hack cages. Vertical
bars, 4-inches apart, separate each side-by-side cage, mounted
about 25 feet above ground and overlooking Douglas Lake. There
are also small openings in the solid rear and side walls, whereby
pictures may be taken of the eaglets inside the cages.
Hack tower release dates are based primarily on when
the eaglets are first capable of flight. That is generally at about
12 weeks of age, which would be July 31, 2008 for the web cam eaglet.
They may be stimulated to exercise their wings more when facing
strong steady winds during their 8 - 12 week old period. In areas
of strong steady winds, eaglets are typically strong enough for
their first flights at about 10 weeks of age. They are judged ready
to fly from the cage when they can fly in place, a few feet above
their caged nest, for several seconds. If there is not much wind,
they may not exercise their wings enough to be strong enough to
fly until they are about 13 weeks age. Another important factor
in their release is the attempt to release as many young eagles
as feasible at the same time. AEF plans to release up to seven
young bald eagles from its hack site on July 22, 2008, but the
eagle cam eaglet may, or may not be, ready for release at that
date, depending on its flight capability at slightly less than
11 weeks of age.
A blind is usually set up to the front right of the hack tower,
allowing some pictures to be taken from that angle as the young
eagles leave their cages. Some eagles immediately bolt out when
the vertically barred front cages are remotely raised by rope and
pulley. However, they typically hop outside the hack cages onto
perch poles and, after a few minutes to an hour or more, after
they get enough courage to do so, they fly to a nearby tree. Their
first landings can be somewhat awkward because they have had no
prior experience at landing while flying horizontally.
Immature eagles are vulnerable to threats during their first year
of life, primarily because they are naive to a variety of dangers
in the wild. Dangers are many and include: becoming entangled in
thick vegetation (mostly when very young), being hit by vehicles
while feeding on freshly dead road kills, colliding with powerlines,
never learning to hunt for themselves, electrocution. A radio transmitter
is placed on the tail feathers of each eaglet so that they can
be found if they get in trouble before dispersing from the area,
which is typically two to four weeks after release. Only about
50 percent survive their first year, whether hacked or from wild
nests, after which about 90 percent survive each year. That leaves
only about 36 percent surviving to five years of age, when many
will find a mate and produce their first young. Bald eagles have
been known to live as much as 39 years in the wild and over 50
years in captivity, where there is good veterinary care. If an
eagle is capable of surviving in the wild, it must be released
into the wild.
June 23, 2008 --
 Our
eaglet will be removed from the nest tomorrow, June 24, and transferred
to a nearby artificial nest in a hack tower overlooking East
Tennessee’s
Douglas Lake. It will become oriented to typical bald eagle
habitat for several weeks before it's
released.
We hope you have
enjoyed watching nesting activities as this eaglet has gone from
"just-born" to now!
June 18, 2008 -
At 6 weeks of age, there's a big change in the
size and appearance of the young eaglet. Gone are the downy white
feathers - the eaglet is more closely resembling its parents. Although
the parents still feed their baby, the eaglet is also beginning to
feed itself.
June 6 , 2008 --
At 4 weeks of age, there's more activity from
the eaglet. He (she?) is very alert to what's going on in the nest
and is getting stronger every day — hopping, (sometimes falling
over!) walking, exercising wings.
May 30, 2008 --
Our 3-week-old baby has grown a lot! If you've been watching, you've
seen this little eaglet hopping, wiggling (sometimes his crop
is so full from a recent dinner that he can't quite get up),
and stretching! You'll also notice a definite change in color
from fluffy white to a darkening gray. All is well, and Liberty
and Justice keep doing a great job.
May 21, 2008 --
 Our
2-week-old baby is doing well. Experienced parents Liberty and
Justice take excellent care of their offspring.
May 13, 2008 --
 The
second egg was removed from the nest today, "candled",
and determined to be infertile. The eaglet, which hatched by
early morning of May 8, 2008, appears very healthy. See the note
April 2, 2008 (below) concerning future plans leading to his/her
release into the wild.
May 11, 2008 -- A Mother's Day Moment
--
 Around
noon (CST) on Sunday (Mother's Day), both parents feed their baby
--- (other egg remains unhatched)
May 8, 2008 -- We have a baby eaglet in the nest!
 A
day old baby eaglet stretches out tiny wings. (photo taken from
eagle cam 5/9/08)
April 2, 2008
2008 Eagle Nest
Cam & Proposed
Bald Eagle Releases
The live eagle nest cam began operation
at the American Eagle Foundation (AEF) of Pigeon Forge, TN on April
2, 2008, a few days after two eggs were laid. The non-releasable
adult bald eagles, Liberty and Justice, take turns at sitting on
the eggs, or they may move about just enough for you to see under
them. You can then confirm the number of eggs, and when they begin
to hatch.
Bald Eagles may have one to three
eggs. Incubation requires about 35 days, provided one or both eggs
are fertile. The eaglet(s) will remain in this nest until the eaglet(s)
are approximately 5 weeks of age. The eaglet(s) will then be removed
from the nest and transferred to a nearby artificial nest in a
hack tower overlooking East Tennessee’s Douglas
Lake. The young bird(s) become oriented to typical bald eagle habitat for
several weeks before they’re released.
They may be joined by approximately 6 to 8 other
captive-bred eaglets placed in four 8x8x8-foot hack cages, with
possibly up to three eaglets in each cage. While in the cages,
they will not be able to see humans as the source of their food
to assure that they will later hunt for themselves, primarily for
fish. They will be released into the wild when they are between
12 or 13 weeks of age after reaching full size, and will be able
to fly for the first time.
Prior Eaglets Produced & Raised By Liberty
and Justice
Liberty and Justice have become live cam stars over the years. From 1993 through
2004, they successfully reared 13 of their own young for release into the wild.
During 2005, when their three eggs were infertile, they successfully reared
an eaglet from the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo.
In 2006, apparent weather damage caused the collapse
of the nest of Liberty and Justice, destroying three eggs that
year.
In 2007, an infertile egg in
the nest of Liberty and Justice was replaced by two eaglets from
another of AEF’s
captive breeding pairs, Bonispae and Franklin. Two broken egg shells
were placed in the nest to make the “miraculous hatch" appear
to be more convincing to Liberty and Justice, and their two adopted
eaglets were reared successfully for release into the wild.
AEF’s Prior
Bald Eagle Releases
From 1992 through 2007, the AEF has released a total of 87 mostly captive-bred
bald eagles from that hack site. Bald eagles tend to return to the general
region where they first learn to fly to nest after they reach sexual maturity
at 4 to 5 years age. However, in case their future choices of life-time mates
had learned to fly in some distant area(s), they may need to compromise on
their future nesting sites.
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