Bald Eagle Trio Is Raising Their Babies Together

March 23, 2019 12:44 PM

"The three parents share incubation responsibilities for the eggs ... Like their relationship, their history is complicated." Livestream of the nest.
posted by hippybear (19 comments total)

Cooooooooooool
posted by quaking fajita at 1:01 PM on March 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

TERRIFYING RAPTOR BEASTS!!

(but so cute I just wanna squish)
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:12 PM on March 23, 2019

I hope the eagles can't hear that ticking and whirring.
posted by pracowity at 1:24 PM on March 23, 2019

Relationship status: its complicated

(and beautiful!!)
posted by supermedusa at 1:36 PM on March 23, 2019 [5 favorites]

I question that the female is Starr, the eaglet hatched from 2017, as Bald Eagles don't achieve their white heads and tails until they are 4 or 5 years old. Other than that, this is either a sweet story of an unusual family bond; or the most stubborn male eagles (with both refusing to leave the nest) I've ever seen.
posted by annieb at 2:07 PM on March 23, 2019 [5 favorites]

Closed poly triad—of eagles. Damn, that is awesome. It’s not my thing but I’m glad it seems to be working for them.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:26 PM on March 23, 2019 [6 favorites]

I suspect you're correct thinking you'd find spending time in a nest with two eagles would, in fact yes, not be your thing.
posted by hippybear at 2:46 PM on March 23, 2019 [11 favorites]

I am shocked, hippybear, to find you kinkshaming a raptor lover.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on March 23, 2019 [5 favorites]

They literally said "It's not my thing". I'm agreeing with them while also making a joke about a human nesting with two bald eagles and how awful that might be.
posted by hippybear at 3:28 PM on March 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

Nature finds a way, as Jeff Goldblum might say, were he hanging out with this kind of raptor.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:59 PM on March 23, 2019

But like isn't Jeff Goldblum like, really a raptor man, if you look at it one way? *hits blunt*
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 4:25 PM on March 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

Jeff Goldblum is all things at all times. In case you haven't noticed.
posted by hippybear at 4:28 PM on March 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

I saw stuff similar to this as a kid when my mom raised ducks in our back yard. The Mandarins were the most notable. They were nominally two pairs but the two males did mating displays to each other all the time and only one female successfully hatched ducklings...
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:43 PM on March 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

I just spent a little while watching the eagle cam, and it's oddly reassuring that bald eagles look just as doofy as any other creature when their tongues are hanging out.
posted by MrVisible at 4:45 PM on March 23, 2019 [6 favorites]

Also the female wood duck ruled the whole flock with an iron bill. Ducks taught me a lot about how flexible nature is and how narrow our hetero/straight gender norms are.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:45 PM on March 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

"Illinois here - the eagles have landed."
posted by Quackles at 5:24 PM on March 23, 2019

Mike Pence warned us this would happen.
posted by Nerd of the North at 5:59 PM on March 23, 2019 [8 favorites]

I'm not surprised one is named Tom Selleck and another is named Ted Danson, but bummer that they cut Steve Gutenberg and replaced him with Nancy Travis in a bigger role...
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:32 AM on March 24, 2019

Today's codeword is RAPTOR POLYCULE.
posted by acb at 1:49 PM on March 24, 2019 [2 favorites]