Eaglets Update:
13NEWS / WVEC.com
Posted on April 26, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Updated today at 1:30 PM
With a crowd of people watching, the father of three eaglets born at Norfolk Botanical Garden returned to the nest at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 10 hours after their mother died in a collision with a plane landing at Norfolk International.
He was busy feeding the youngsters again Wednesday morning, bringing a fish to the nest about 6:40 a.m
NORFOLK -- The three eaglets which lost their mother Tuesday in a collision with a plane are out of the nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden and will soon be at their new home at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The process to remove the three eaglets began at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday and was concluded within an hour.
They'll be sent to the Waynesboro facility, which is home to Buddy, another Botanical Garden eagle that contracted Avian Pox.
DGIF spokesman Stephen Living told WVEC.com,"Without intervention, it is all but certain that one or more of these eaglets would not survive the next three months. Pulling the birds and sending them to the Wildlife Center gives them their best chance. The birds are already old enough to know that they are eagles and to recognize their siblings. Maintaining them as a family unit and releasing them together when they are ready to go will certainly improve their survival potential.
While the male may be able to meet the needs of the chicks in the near term, the amount of food they will require as they grow will increase exponentially, likely exceeding the hunting capacity of even the most capable provider, officials said............
View attachment 159863 View attachment 159864edit:The male eagle just came back with a fish to find the nest empty. He just stood there looking around for a loooooooong time.
WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA EAGLET CARE PLAN:
They will be placed in an artificial nest that has been constructed in the Centers 200-foot eagle flight cage. Other adult Bald Eagle patients may also be in this enclosure. While the chicks will be separated by a physical barrier from direct contact with other eagles, the eaglets will be able to see other eagles flying and feeding. As they begin to fledge, the barrier will be removed and the young eagles will have full access to the long enclosure, to build their wing strength and to learn to fly. The goal would be to get the young eagles ready for release back into the wild in late summer.
That's cool that they are saving the chicks. I wonder how long the male eagle will wonder what happened before he "moves on"?