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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Juvenile
Bald eagle visiting nest - look closely for the adult in
the nest
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