Nothing can stop her from caring for her children. ❤️️
A bald eagle in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has demonstrated how far mothers will go to protect their children. This eagle mom, known as Bella, will keep her eggs warm even if she is buried up to her head in snow.
Since 2011, Bella and her partner, Smitty, have returned to their nest, which is located 100 feet up in a tall sycamore tree near the Potomac River, to raise their young.
On Facebook Live, Randy Robinson, an educational systems consultant with the National Conservation Training Center, remarked, “The eagles are very terrific parents.” “They’ll sit on the eggs all day and night.”
While both parents take turns caring for the eggs, the female eagle spends 80 percent of her time sitting on the nest, while the male conducts the majority of the hunting and fishing. Once the eagles have laid their eggs, they must withstand a variety of harsh circumstances, including snow, hail, sleet, and freezing rain. Even when a strong snowfall hits, the mom eagle remains unmoved.
As may be seen here:
“They mate and lay their eggs really early in the year, in January or February,” Robinson explained, “so the weather is quite harsh with snow and ice as we’ve experienced over the previous several weeks.” “One of the major benefits of laying their eggs early is that the young hatch quickly. And there will be enough of food when these little ones hatch in mid-March.”
The eagles’ thick down and feathers help them endure the cold, and their keen beaks and talons allow them to defend the nest against intruders.
The female eagle is the largest of the two and is responsible for caring for the eggs until they hatch. That includes making sure the eggs are continually contacting her belly’s exposed skin, known as a brood pouch, and rotating them every hour to ensure even heating. She also has to fluff up the dry grass that serves as bedding so that the eggs may relax comfortably.
The dedicated parents’ effort does not finish once the baby hatch. The young stay in the nest for another three months as they build the strength to fly, and their parents continue to feed and educate them to hunt long after they leave the nest.
On the National Conservation Training Center’s eagle nest webcam, people from all around the world have been watching Smitty and Bella care for their offspring. And witnessing the eagles’ devotion to their eggs is a powerful reminder of a parent’s love.