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Bald Eagle Birth Announcement



HI ALL:
Thought this might be of interest to someone interested in Eagles.
										VAN ATKINS


>Return-Path: <owner-chapter-communicator@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG>
>Date:         Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:51:06 -0500
>Reply-To: "GROBERT, Kara" <KGROBERT@AUDUBON.ORG>
>Sender: NAS Chapter Communications officers
<CHAPTER-COMMUNICATOR@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG>
>From: "GROBERT, Kara" <KGROBERT@AUDUBON.ORG>
>Subject:      Bald Eagle Birth Announcement
>To: CHAPTER-COMMUNICATOR@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG
>
>AUDUBON OF FLORIDA ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST GLIMPSE OF BALD EAGLE BABIES
>
>Watch Eagle Hatchlings Grow Using the World Wide Web
>
>New York, NY February 16, 2000 - Thanks to the Internet, Audubon Society of
>Florida's Center for Birds of Prey, and The Orlando Sentinel, people all
>over the country will witness the growth and development of two baby Bald
>Eagles.  The downy eaglets will grow up in a 75 foot-high tree in central
>Florida.  The exact location has not been revealed in order to protect the
>birds.
>
>"With a video camera mounted in a tree above the nest a safe distance away
>from the eagles, we are able to witness this miracle of nature," said Resee
>Collins, director of the Audubon Society of Florida's Center for Birds of
>Prey, a recovery center for injured birds.  The website of the Orlando
>Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/projects/eagle/, has hosted the
>video footage of the proud eagle parents since they began nesting a year
>ago.  Photographer Red Huber of the Sentinel made the initial discovery.
>Until the hatchlings leave the nest, about 3 months, a video camera will
>continue to record their development.
>
>The next few months will involve a series of challenges for the hatchlings
>as they prepare to take flight. The eaglets will spend most of their time
>eating and sleeping, but there is always occasion to play with "toys."
>Eaglet toys are items that the parents have brought into the nest and may
>include plastic bottles, tennis balls and even sneakers. The growing birds
>use these items to practice the grasping and squeezing techniques they will
>need to become hunters.
>
>Bald Eaglets grow faster than any other bird in North America, weighing
>one-quarter pound when they hatch and gaining as much as 6 ounces a day.
>After reaching a weight of 10-12 pounds and having developed strong wings
>and legs, flight practice will begin. At fledging (when they leave the nest)
>they are larger than their parents.
>
>In the meantime however, the nestlings survival is not guaranteed. Only
>three out of every ten eaglets survive their first year.  Although under
>constant parental supervision, there is risk that one or both eaglets may
>not survive.  One eaglet may be killed by the larger sibling, or by a parent
>sensing a genetic defect.  Storms and predators also make the eaglets'
>future uncertain.
>
>Perhaps the greatest threat to the survival of these raptors is
>human-related.  Eagles, adversely affected by pesticides such as DDT and the
>loss of habitat, have rebounded from the brink of extinction and were
>proposed for removal from the endangered species list last year.  However,
>the survival of each and every eagle is important, and the protection of
>every nest site crucial for the continued existence of the species.  For
>more information on eagles or Audubon of Florida's Center for Birds of Prey,
>call 407/644-0190.
>
>MEDIA CONTACTS:
>Irela Bague                             ibague@audubon.org
>305/371-6399
>Kara Grobert                            kgrobert@audubon.org
>212/979-3027
>
>