Minnesota is home to one determined mother eagle. Snow often falls during bald eagles’ winter nesting season, but this mama had to dig deep when her nest became completely buried in a two-foot snowstorm this weekend. The eagle, spotted on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ EagleCam, remained still even when only her head remained above the snow. It was all in a bid to keep her eggs warm and protected during a particularly nasty storm.
The bird, which had just laid her second egg of the season, found herself covered with more and more snow as the night wore on. Still, she made no real effort to get up and move until the next morning. When she did finally stand up, she shook off some of the snow from her feathers — then settled right back in for another round of egg-warming.
According to the DNR, the snow won’t actually hurt the eggs. In fact, it can act as additional insulation when coupled with the fur, leaves, feathers, and grass that nesting bald eagles strategically place around their clutches. And with two parents acting as full-time caretakers, their young have a good chance at hatching.
Though we’ve assumed it was the mother eagle taking her turn at the time, the truth is that there’s no way of telling which parent was on duty under all that snow. This particular bird was part of a male-female pair that have been taking turns incubating the eggs. Whichever bird isn’t on parenting duty heads out to scavenge for food.
The EagleCam caught all the action, including the other eagle’s eventual return to the nest. It’s one of our favorite wildlife cams, and it’s been running for ten years, posting live updates to the official DNR website all the while. According to the most recent update, the eagles may be expecting a third egg soon. And in the next 34 to 39 days, the updates note, “there just might be fuzzy-headed chicks to watch.”
