Story Starter : Conflict in the Natal Nest?
Young eagles often return to their natal nesting area. Eaglets have even been known to make visits to their actual nests! What do you think would happen if a juvenile eagle returned? How many different scenarios could happen?
Try
This!
Write a story about a juvenile eagle that returns to their old nest. Include
details about the eagle parents. Will your story include new eggs or baby eaglets?
Will the parents recognize the juvenile? Is there jealousy?
Share your stories and celebrate with special Tea! (What will you serve for an Eagle Tea?)
Real-Life Stories
Here are some real-life stories shared by Eagleye Nye:
“As I've said before, young eagles seem to naturally "key back in" on their natal area, which can sometimes cause problems. Sometimes they may see "new" nestlings in "their" nests as competition, and kill or attempt to kill the young. I have seen this attempted and have seen evidence of it having happened. The outcome when youngsters re-visit their nest is very dependent on the reaction of the adults at the site. Sometimes the adults do nothing, other times they are extremely aggressive and drive young eagles right out of their territory, whether they're young or not. I'm enclosing an interesting picture along these lines taken at one of our nests this year by one of our volunteer nest-watchers. It appears in this photo that the adults are not too concerned. But then again, the adult is incubating eggs and may not want to sacrifice their viability to go off chasing the immature.....probably a smart strategy. She may be waiting for her mate to show up and take care of this upstart! Other times, the immatures may have no "evil intentions" at all, but may be content just to re-orient to a nest site."
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