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Originally Posted by Barefoot
You are so welcome bk, it's nice to know that people care.
The father eagle returned to the empty nest at 2:14 with a fish. He spent 15minutes in the nest just looking around, trying to figure out where his wife and kids went. So sad. The male was with the female when she was killed, but he managed to get out of the way of the plane. The Admins said that the male spent some time this morning looking for the female. At least now we know that the three eaglets are safe from predators and will be sure of enough to eat.
The male eagle will probably find another mate, as the female did in 2002 when her male partner was killed by an airplane. Perhaps we'll see the male return next year to the same nest with a new mate. I hope so.
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The Norfolk Eagle Cam had an expert biologist on the website later this afternoon. They are receiving thousands of e-mails and questions on the blog. The expert was explaining the decision to move the three eaglets to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Many people were criticizing the decision to remove the eaglets since the dad was still trying to feed them.
I found the explanation very interesting. Many people thought the biologists should have left one of the three eaglets to keep the dad company. However the expert explained that one eaglet would be very vulnerable to predators when the dad was out hunting. And that we think the eagles are feeling human emotions of loss and sadness and confusion. But in fact the dad will adjust to the situation in a few days, and before long, he will probably find a new mate. And possibly even return to the same nest next winter.
Other people thought the biologist should have left all three eaglets in the nest because the dad was still bringing them fish and trying to provide for them. The biologist explained that the eaglets will soon double in size and require huge amounts of food to stay healthy. It really takes two eagles to raise a brood, one to hunt, and the other to protect the nest. By himself, it would have been impossible for the dad to defend the nest against predators plus provide an adequate amount of food.
As the eaglets grow larger, if they aren't getting enough food, they woud become very aggressive and fight each other and possibly kill the weakest eaglet. They would become weak and malnourished. The biologists felt the most humane solution would be to take the eaglets to a sanctuary. They will be in a "simulated" natural situation, and will eventually fledge and learn to fly in a 200 foot enclosure. The biologists will even provide fish tanks to teach the eaglets how to fish.
I'm glad that today is over. I spent waaaaaay too much time on the Norfork website. It was so emotional seeing the eaglets removed from the nest. And also when the dad returned with a fish, and the kids were gone.
By the way, the plan is to get a webcam up and running of the eaglets at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. I'll post the link here when it happens.