April 16, 2005
Chick Development II
It's time to take another look at the eaglets' ongoing development. The chicks seem to change more every day, and they are rapidly reaching the time when they will look and act like true raptors.
On Monday April 18, all three eaglets will be at least 6 weeks old. To put this in perspective, at 7 weeks old, the oldest eaglets will have almost all their feathers. At 8-9 weeks they'll begin branching -- or flapping and hopping -- to different parts of the nest and maybe even branches of their tree. At 10-12 weeks, they'll be almost as big as their parents and will be ready to leave the nest for their first flight.
As for the feathers, both of the oldest chicks have extensive feather development. The third eaglet still has a good bit of down, but black feathers are now visible on his body as well. Also, we're starting to see more of the eaglets preening themselves as they maintain their new body coverings.
Along with the feather growth has come more wing flapping from all three eaglets, and it's an activity that will only increase in frequency as the eaglets approach their first flight. Here are photos of all three eaglets exercising their wings:
When it comes to eating, the oldest chick is now tearing off his own food and the second chick shouldn't be far behind. It's interesting to see how the parent beak-feeds the ones that continue to need it.
As for thermoregulation, the eaglets have been managing their own body temperature for some time now -- as evidenced by the fact that the birds are left uncovered in varying types of weather -- and having all their feathers will help further insulate them from the elements.
Despite all the eaglets' growth, they are still reliant on the protection of their parents, so the mother and/or father are often nearby, even when we can't see them in the cam image. At this point, both parents are hunting for the family's food and taking turns watching over the eaglets.
So what's in store for the eaglets? Below you'll find a set of beautiful photos that show bald eaglets in the latter stages of development. It won't be long before our eaglets will look like these fierce and handsome raptors. Click on the thumbnails below for larger images:
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Technical note: Just an FYI, if you see white streaks across the cams in the evening, note that spiders are attracted to the cams and can be seen hanging off them at night. During the daylight hours, however, they are not visible.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster