Feeding a 1-Day Old Bald Eagle Chick
1-day old bald eagle chick being cared for by the IWS team on Catalina Island. This chick was hatched from an egg retrieved from the Two Harbors nest on the island. The chick will be returned to the nest to be raised by it’s parents in a few days. The shells of many of the Channel Island bald eagle eggs are too thin to be hatched naturally due to DDT contamination. Notice the use of the adult eagle puppet when feeding the chick. This is to help the chick associate a large beak coming towards it means food. I love the tender way the biologist emulates brooding after feeding with their hand.
These eagles are part of the ongoing restoration project by IWS. You can read about the struggle to reintroduce America’s symbol, the Bald Eagle, to the Channel Islands as well as watch this miracle of nature via live eagle-cam by going to http://www.iws.org and clicking first on ‘interactive’ and then choosing one of the nests to view on Catalina Island and Santa Cruz Island or go to: http://z7.invisionfree.com/CHIL_EagleCAM/index.php?act=idx
