Naturally Speaking
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Photo courtesy of Jerry Davis
This young Iowa County eagle was blown from its nest before it could fly very far.
An early fledging Bald Eagle, hurried by a windstorm in mid-June which put the bird on the ground, unable to fly far or high. The bird remained for several days perched six feet above the ground on bare branches and with no shade. The young bird could limb-walk, hop and fly a few feet but not do much elevating. The normal fledging time is 70-98 days.
From time to time one, sometimes both, adults, would perch in the live tree above the "stranded" young eagle. Five days after the early flight, one adult was seen pulling apart a small mammal near the young bird. Both the parent and young bird were on the ground. Traffic along a nearby county road disturbed the adult and sent the young bird side-stepping up the limb to a higher elevation, likely waiting for another food drop or a chance to hop to the ground and look for carcass scraps.
During a more normal fledging, young Eagles are fed by the adults; often back in the original nest. Some of an Eaglet's first "catches" are carrion or pirating food from other birds, including crows. After many weeks young Eagles get the hang of finding their own carrion, road kills and taloning small injured or young birds and mammals.
