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[From: Wolf Morris via AIM_AUTONOMOUS_PA@onelist.com]

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2000/2000L-02-18-09.html
 

WEBCAM LETS PEOPLE SHARE LIVES OF BALD EAGLE BABIES

ORLANDO, Florida, February 18, 2000 (ENS) - 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 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," 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 three months,
a video
camera will continue to record their development. 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.

************************************

Note: The link for the Orlando Sentinel is
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/projects/eagle/

**************************************
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/automagic/news/2000-02-11/NWSEAGLES11021100.html

2 'video' eaglets face tough survival odds, expert says

Sandra Mathers
of The Sentinel Staff

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on February 11, 2000 .

The odds are slim that Central Florida's
just-hatched-on-video eaglets will survive to adulthood.
The two chicks have, in fact, about a 30 percent chance
of gaining their majestic badge -- a white head.

Only three of every 10 eagles born in the wild survive,
said Resee Collins, director of the Audubon Society of
Florida's Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.

And we have only ourselves -- and the environment we
helped create -- to blame for most of their deaths, she
said.

"Eagles have a very high mortality rate," Collins said. "So
many of their problems are related to people."

We chop down their nesting trees and hit them with our
cars. Our chemicals enter their food chain, and our
power lines frequently electrocute them.
Even our buildings get in the way as they learn to fly.

"Learning to fly is a skill," Collins. "Two years ago, a
young bird in Winter Park didn't know how to maneuver
and hit the roof of a house."

The young eagle, whose foot was badly injured, is now
a permanent resident of Collins' center, which rescues
and treats the injured birds.

The center, in cooperation with The Orlando Sentinel,
has been producing video footage of the eagles since
they began nesting last year for use as an education tool
in the newspaper, on the Internet and television.

This week, Sentinel photographer Red Huber
discovered the eaglets had hatched in their nest atop a
75-foot pine tree. The location has not been revealed to
protect the birds.

For the next three months -- or until the chicks leave
home -- a video camera aimed into the nest from a
branch about 12 feet away will record their
development.

The story, said Collins, may be how well the eaglets are
able to adapt to their urban environment.

The odds are against them. Potential eaglet disaster
scenes include being eaten by a larger sibling, tossed out
of the nest by a storm or by a parent sensing a genetic
defect, or killed by a marauding raccoon.

But if the chicks are lucky, the next three months will
prepare them to take to the air.

Under almost constant parental supervision, the eaglets
will eat their way to a flight-weight of 10 to 12 pounds,
prance around the nest to strengthen their wings and
legs, and learn to play with an assortment of "toys."

Eagle parents have been known to lug to the nest items
such as Clorox bottles, tennis balls and even tennis
shoes, said Collins. The growing birds use the items to
practice the grasping and squeezing techniques they will
need to become hunters.

Posted Feb 10 2000 10:13PM
 

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