THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM
The Hays bald eagle lays its third egg of the year.
The newest addition to Pittsburgh’s Hays community arrived at about 2 p.m. Friday, rolling into a cramped, if sturdy, home overlooking the Monongahela River.
As the bald eagle parents continued to weather the harsh winter, the third egg in their nest joined two others, delivered Feb. 12 and Monday. Since 2013, the adults have produced 21 eggs. Thirteen eaglets have survived to fledge.
Provided none of the eggs cracks or becomes otherwise unviable, each is expected to begin hatching 35 days after it was laid. Estimated time of arrival for Egg No. 1 is March 19.
Friday’s delivery is expected to be the last of this year, but Rachel Handel, a spokeswoman for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, said you never know.
“We can’t be certain that this is the final egg of the season. Bald eagles have laid more than three — just this year in Big Bear, Calif., a bald eagle laid five eggs. It was seen over an eagle cam and made national news,” she said. “Bald eagle eggs are generally laid two to three days apart, but as we see with the Hays pair, eggs can be laid four days apart.
“We will just have to keep watching.”
Again this year, the nest and its occupants are under surveillance day and night by a livestreaming wildlife camera, a collaborative project of PixCams and the Audubon Society. The video feed has been granted a special permit for educational purposes by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“Now that there are eggs in the nest, one parent will remain on the nest at all times,” Ms. Handel said.
When the adult warming the eggs stands, it can be seen rolling them to keep a constant interior temperature. When that occurs, the egg is visible in the nest bowl. The adult then lies over the egg to continue incubation. After hatching, the eaglets are frequently visible.
Home viewers can watch the action for free at http://aswp.org/ pages/hays-nest.
Once an egg hatches, the adults’ behavior will abruptly change. After more than a month of sharing incubation duty, the mother alone will warm the brood while the father goes to work, making countless trips to and from the slope and river below to provide food for his growing family.
With sharp beaks and talons, magnifying eagle eyes, and the ability to make pinpoint power dives, eagles often catch smaller
birds, reptiles, mammals and their favorite dinner, fish, that swim too near the surface. But they’re just as likely to steal a meal from another raptor’s grasp or to scavenge on river banks and roads for dead fish or carrion.
The Hays eagles are now raising their eighth family. Ms. Handle said they could continue to breed for years.
“Bald eagles may live to be about 20 years old in the wild,” she said. “This pair began breeding in 2013. Because eagles are mature for breeding around the age of 5, these adults are minimally 13 years of age. … As the eagles do get older, it will certainly be interesting to see how long they continue to breed and nest on the hill in Hays.”
Across town, at another active eagle nest — this one overlooking the Allegheny River near Harmar — a mating pair appears to be in the family way, but with no mounted video camera, it’s impossible to be certain.
“They’re typically a few weeks behind the Hays bald eagles. There is not a camera on the Harmar nest, so we’ll rely on observations from the area — an eagle always in the nest is the most notable behavior once an egg has been laid,” Ms. Handle said.
Three additional bald eagle nests are known to be active in Allegheny County.
With no camera observation, however, less is known about them. The newest is in its third nesting season overlooking North Park Lake. The others are on private property in Glassport and Crescent.