The Carolina Raptor Center eagle aviary has a new member! This past Friday during several inches of snow falling, the eagle Savannah hatched one of her three eggs. The third egg has been discarded, but there’s still hope for the second.
The nest is hidden from humans behind panels. Great care is taken so that the eaglet will not be habituated to humans. The goal is to release any of the captivity hatched birds to the wild.
Savannah arrived at CRC in 1998. Her first eggs were in 2004 and the first successful hatch was finally in March 2006 which were the first bald eaglets ever hatched in captivity in North Carolina. That male and female were raised and released in the wild.
In 2008, the third eaglet, Letha, was hatched on Sunday, March 9. She was released to the wild in May 2008 after a preparation process.
The eaglets are raised by their parents for the first few weeks so that they’re properly imprinted as eagles. Then, when they’re 5-6 weeks old, it’s OK to separate them from their parents. They’re taken by CRC staff to an artificial nest known as a “hacking” tower where they are fed by a specially designed food hatch. This allows for their care without human contact. After several weeks of acclimatization the doors of the hatching tower are opened to enable the eaglet to stretch its wings. While 12 weeks old is when the first flight is expected, the nest remains available for food and security until the bird is independent. Instincts are sufficient for them to hunt fish, but they need time to practice their skills.
This hacking tower is located in a prime area of some 2,700 acres of nature preserve at Mountain Island Lake. The fact that such a situation could be within a few miles of downtown Charlotte, NC is fantastic and very special. It easily affirms the efforts of several groups to steward this resource carefully. Importantly, having the nearby lakes alone is not sufficient.
What’s needed is an environment – a complete package of untouched woods and properly conserved animal population. This requires a sizable footprint of land set aside by purchase or conservation easements.
Video games and TV have their place in a child’s buffet of activities, but the deficiency of nature interaction is becoming a serious issue. Documentaries, Animal Planet, Bambi and that sort of “nature” is more electronic media that has a constructive function depending somewhat on the age group.
But a viewpoint of life based on electronic device experiences and surrounded by the concrete of city life is simply not a full plate of life. There has to be some time away from the couch while actually experiencing the natural world. It adds to a person’s confidence and feeling of fullness.
This is why you have groups like the Mountain Island Lake Wildlife Stewards and NC Wildlife Federation focusing on wildlife – yes, as the name would imply – but additionally focusing on helping children to see and touch nature: That thrill of seeing one of those TV critters in real life!
Very cool, informative post, Tom! You are right about the importance of getting kids out into nature. Most of them would probably love it – if you can get the parents off the sofa. 😉 When I took my 8 year old niece kayaking with us at Stumpy Pond, she absolutely loved it and said “awesome! this is better than going to the movies!”