A bald eagle that worked tirelessly to protect its eggs during the winter storms, even refusing to move as snow piled on top of it, lost its baby chick after its 2,000-pound nest fell to the ground on Sunday.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced on Facebook that the chick, born on March 26, was discovered dead on Sunday after a few hours of searching.
The Tragic event
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The Minnesota eagle family came to public attention after one of the eagles was discovered partially buried under a mound of snow, with only its head poking out, as it remained in its nest and waited out a storm to keep its two eggs warm, as per Insider.
The male and female incubated the eggs alternately, while the male also provided food and kept an eye out for potential threats or predators.
One of the eggs had broken on March 1, leaving a single egg to hatch at the end of the month. It died a week later.
Officials said they were unsure how the nest fell in the first place, but that a blizzard the day before caused an accumulation of snow that was too heavy for the tree branch that carried the nest.
The branch was dead, and the nest was over 20 years old and weighed over 2,000 pounds, according to a Facebook post from the state's DNR.
There were many fallen trees and branches from the heavy, wet snow in the area and neighborhood near the nest.
Even if they have a backup (which is likely because eagles frequently build multiple nests in the same area for this very reason), our nesting season is too short for them to have another brood, the DNR wrote in an update post on Monday.
However, because eagles are territorial, it is possible that the pair will attempt to rebuild a nest in the same location. Officials announced on Monday that the couple had already been seen mating.
Baby eagle survival rates are typically very low. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, eagles die at a rate of more than 50% during their first year of life, and only one out of every ten eagles survive to become adults.
The DNR stated that even if the bald eagle parents find another nest, it is unlikely that they will lay another egg this year.
Eagles, like all birds, grow in an asymptotic pattern, which means that they grow slowly at first, then rapidly, before slowing down to terminal size, as per the Center for Conservation Biology.
Adult males are smaller than females, so they reach maturity at a younger age. Males average 3,150 grams (7-8 pounds) and females average 4,225 grams in the Chesapeake Bay (10-12 pounds).
Chicks gain 140-150 grams per day during their rapid growth stage. T90 (time required to achieve 90% of terminal weight) occurs between the ages of 36 and 42 days, depending on gender.
Eagles in captivity can live for 30 to 50 years, but in the wild, the average lifespan is 15 to 20 years, as per Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.
Congenital deformities, predation, starvation, failure to thrive, and siblicide are among the first mortality threats an eaglet faces in the nest.
Congenital deformities may mean that the eaglet is unable to hunt properly, which can lead to death.
There have also been reports of predators such as raccoons, Great Horned Owls, and other large raptors taking and harming or killing an eaglet from its nest.
Failure to thrive occurs when there is a lack of a good food source, often affecting the youngest in a clutch, or even the older sibling killing the younger through aggression and competitiveness over food.
It is commonly assumed that Bald Eagles lay multiple eggs in a clutch to ensure that at least one eaglet survives to carry the species forward.
