Bald Eagle Eggs No Longer Viable, And Mom Mates With Someone New

Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The soap opera in the skies over the D.C. Policy Academy continues. The latest chapter is a sad one. Liberty left her eggs unattended for more than eight hours Thursday, so there’s no chance that they’ll hatch according to Tommy Lawrence with the Earth Conservation Corps.

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for eaglets. Thursday morning Liberty mated with M2. He’s the eagle who stole Liberty away from Aaron Burrd who stole Liberty away from her mate of 14 years Justice.

If Liberty was fertile she could lay more eggs said Lawrence. That, however, is a big if. Lawrence said they have no way of knowing whether she’s fertile.

If she is, it could take about 70 hours from the time of the mating Thursday morning for her to lay the eggs.

“It’s just really a waiting game to see what happens and to keep watching it for the next couple weeks,” Lawrence said.

The good news is if Liberty does lay eggs, M2 would help her take care of them, which would make it more likely that they would survive.

It was difficult for Liberty to tend for these eggs because she had to leave them in the cold for long periods to hunt since Aaron Burrd chased off the father Justice.

Speaking of Justice, he there have been no confirmed sightings – just possible ones – and the time for him to return the nest is quickly running out. Lawrence said the longest time they know of an eagle leaving and returning is two weeks. Justice was last seen at the nest Jan. 9.

You can watch all the action here: https://www.eaglecam.org/