AP/MINNEAPOLIS When a new eagle camera goes live on Thursday, eagle enthusiasts worldwide who were devastated by the live-streamed collapse of a nest including two birds and their chick will have another chance to see it.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday that the new camera is in a different area and will display a different nesting pair. However, because the original pair still visits their former region and constructed a new nest about half a mile away, the DNR will also continue to operate its old EagleCam. Even as late as Friday, they were spotted there.
Lori Naumann, a spokesman for the DNR sNongame Wildlife Program, which operates the cameras, said the previous camera had viewers in homes, classrooms, and nursing homes in 50 states and about 160 nations. Before the original nest collapsed on April 2, 2023, during a severe snowfall, it was occupied by a couple whom watchers informally called Nancy and Beau. When a limb holding the nest, which weighed 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) and was more than 20 years old, collapsed, the mother bird took off. Later, the girl was discovered dead.
Popular Facebook groups that followed the couple saw a flood of condolences, and those groups’ members were thrilled to hear the news on Tuesday.
Before the nest collapse, Naumann told reporters they frequently had thousands of viewers at any given moment, particularly during the pandemic when viewers who were confined to their homes turned to the internet to get their fix of nature. The most eagles in the lower 48 states are found in Minnesota, and they even construct nests in cities.
According to Naumann, the pair has been nesting in the new, unknown location for at least four years and has raised multiple broods of eaglets. Because they haven’t kept a close eye on them yet, officials are unsure of the precise length of time the nest has been there or the number of chicks the parents have hatched, she added.
On Thursday, both cameras will go live on the DNR website and the agency’s YouTube channel at around 6 a.m. CST.
According to Naumann, there isn’t much activity at the nest right now, but that will change.
“Right now, it’s not really breeding season,” she remarked. As their courtship behavior intensifies over the next few months, we anticipate that they will begin bringing more branches and nesting materials into the nest. In order to demonstrate their commitment to one another and their deservingness of a relationship, they actively construct the nest together after that.
According to her, the female is anticipated to lay two or three eggs in February, and it will take them roughly 35 days to hatch. Usually, both adults take care of their chicks, feeding them dead fish all the time to sate their ravenous appetites.
Regarding Nancy and Beau, the DNR does not identify the animals it monitors since it was not practical to put a camera and provide electricity to their new nest, where they successfully raised two babies the previous season. After a thorough search, the agency decided on the new, easier-to-get-to spot with a healthy tree. Early in October, they installed the camera, which came to a total of roughly $5,000. As with the first camera, Xcel Energy, a Minneapolis-based company, supplied the bucket lift truck and additional services to install the new camera for free.
Through direct donations and an optional checkoff on the state’s personal income tax form, the eagles act as ambassadors for the Nongame Wildlife Program. To help endangered species, it provides funding for a variety of wildlife initiatives throughout the state. The DNR is not an official participant as a government entity, but the cameras will be active on Thursday to support a statewide charity event.
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