Stars of Eagle Cam Hatch Their Third Chick

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: January 7, 2022 10:30 am

A third bald eagle chick emerges from its egg live on camera in Miami-Dade County

Photo Credit: Zoo Miami

Rita and Ron, a wild bald eagle pair and stars of the live eagle camera from an undisclosed location in Miami-Dade County have hatched their third chick.

Their first egg hatched on New Year’s Day and the third chick has joined the family on Three King’s Day.

The pair are nesting on an artificial platform built by Lloyd Brown from Wildlife Rescue of Dade County and Ron Magill from the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment at the Zoo Miami Foundation. The platform was required as the pair’s original nest was routinely damaged in storms.

When the platform was set-up state-of-the-art cameras were also installed which follow the activity at the nest 24 hours of the day. This has helped to provide fascinating insights in to the nesting behavior or the bald eagle.

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An average clutch for the bald eagle is one to two eggs. Laying three is an extraordinary achievement for this pair.

Unfortunately the third chick has the odds stacked against it. It is incredibly rare for three chicks to survive as the older two chicks are larger and have a better chance of fighting for food. Often one chick in the nest will become dominant and aim to get rid of the other chicks which impact their access to food.

While the eagles are being monitored by the nest camera they remain wild animals and no efforts will be made to intervene in the process of raising their chicks.

Watch the eagles raise their chicks here – Eagle Cam | Zoo Miami

Learn more about Bald Eagles here – Bald Eagle Fact File | The Animal Facts

Learn more about Wildlife Rescue of Dade County on their website – Wildlife Rescue of Dade County