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LIVE VIDEO: Eaglets growing in Decorah, Iowa nest

Posted at 7:41 PM, Mar 26, 2012
and last updated 2012-04-09 16:30:41-04

*Editor’s note: This is an eaglet cam in Decorah, Iowa, not the eagle cam in Richmond, Va.

UPDATE: DECORAH, IOWA–The brood of the Decorah eagles is expanding. The first egg of 2012 hatched Tuesday afternoon. Now all  three eaglets have hatched in Decorah, Iowa.

The Raptor Resource Project, which operates the camera poised above the nest, confirmed the hatch of D12 at 1:16 p.m. The egg, which was laid on February 17th, pipped Monday afternoon. When a pip occurs, that means the eaglet has broken through the shell and a hatch is imminent.

Two eggs remain in the nest, still incubating. The second egg was laid on February 20th and the final egg was laid on February 24th.

The first Decorah eaglet “pip” was confirmed at 2 p.m. CST on Monday.

Now that the pip has occurred, it will take approximately 24 – 48 hours for full hatch.

This process will occur one egg at a time. A “pip” is a tiny hole that the eaglet inside the egg makes with its “egg tooth” (a sharp little point at the end of its beek) in the outside shell when it first starts to hatch.

Each eaglet will spend 12 to 38 hours emerging from its shell. The eaglets will then spend the next three months in the nest.

The nest has three eggs – the first was laid on February 17th, the second on February 20th and the third on February 24th.

It takes about 35 days for bald eagle eggs to hatch.

The eagle parents have been together since the winter of 2007-2008 when the mother was estimated to be about four years old. They’ve successfully hatched and fledged 11 eaglets, including three each year for the past three years. Last summer, the UStream live video of the three eaglets attracted 200 million views, becoming the most-watched live video in USteam history!

The nest is located near a state-owned fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa, about 80 feet high in a tree on private land. According to the Raptor Resource Project, which runs the webcam, the nest is 6 feet wide, 5 feet deep and weighs 1.3 tons.

CLICK HERE to visit DecorahEagleCamAlerts.com – for more information and to sign up to be alerted when the real action gets underway in the nest!