Eaglet number three expected any day now.
Eagle Cam voyeurs have been paying close attention this week as eaglets all over the nation are welcomed into the world.
On this chilly spring morning, the Decorah, Iowa Eagle Cam offers a stunning view of the mama Eagle with feathers ruffled, sitting on two of her eggs and one fur-ball chick. She occasionally pulls the dried grass and twigs of her aerie closer to her body to help keep her and the kids toasty warm.
Unaware that she’s being watched via Eagle Cam, she keeps a close eye (desperately ignoring the urge to use the cliché ‘eagle eye’) on everything happening around her.
The first Decorah eaglet of 2012 broke free from its shell on Tuesday. Its name is D12.
A second eaglet has since been born, and around 12 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday Eagle Cam voyeurs had the opportunity to see mama get off the babies long enough for them to peck at each other a little. Shortly after she got up again to feed the eaglets, one appeared to be helping his unhatched sibling along by pecking at the egg.
The concept of the Eagle Cam has become wildly popular. The national emblem was just removed from the endangered species list in 2007, but eagle sightings are a rare and exciting as ever. To see the birth of fuzzy gray eaglets via Eagle Cam is an endearing example of a bridge between technological advances and the natural world.
In 2011, thousands tuned in to the Eagle Cam to see the Decorah, Iowa eaglets hatch. The eagles returned at the end of December to nest again. Since then, the Decorah Eagle Cam has had more than 11 million views.
Eagle Cam enthusiasts will have plenty of time to catch the last chick make his debut. Each hatch can take between 12 and 48 hours, and he should be greeting the world any day now.
