It is no secret that bad weather days can cause a disruption in the social behaviour of the eaglets on a nest. That is precisely what happened today on the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and Samson. NE26, the older and larger of the eaglets, pecked at 27 so that it missed at least two feedings. The younger sibling quickly went into submission protecting is head and neck even when approached by the older sib.
By mid-afternoon, around 15:18, 27 got up around the tail of the adult and had some food. Earlier it had tried to self feed on a fish. That was around 10:18. It is very sad when a nest that had been so civil gets disrupted. Fingers crossed that 26 will behave and Samson will have more fish on the nest.
Here are some images, with very little text, of the encounters between the two siblings. The final one is NE27 finally getting fed.
Competition for parental attention or food, squabbling if you like between siblings, is quite common in Eagle nests even when the pantry is full. All of us have seen this. NE27 did figure out how to get around NE26 because, by mid-afternoon, it was really, really hungry. NE26 had been fed and was also not as aggressive as it had been earlier in the day.
We have seen competition arise after big storms. It almost seems that the time between feedings and the bad weather causes the eldest to become hostile. I hope by tomorrow these two eaglets who were both fed equally with large crops have this sorted out! Both Samson and Gabby are superb parents.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care!
Thank you to the NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.