The eagle has landed!
An eaglet hatched late Monday in a nest at the U.S. National Arboretum.
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And as with any good celebrity these days, the whole thing was posted on social media — because Web cameras are trained on the nest of the eaglet’s parents, Mr. President and Lotus, short for Lady of the United States.
The eaglet hatched at 11:31 p.m., according to Mr. P and Lotus’s Twitter feed, which is maintained by the American Eagle Foundation. The pair had another egg, but the eaglet died barely 24 hours after it hatched over the weekend. Officials at the arboretum said they’re not sure what caused the death.
Still, there was celebration among bald-eagle enthusiasts at seeing the second eaglet hatch. In one video, cracks were seen in the egg, and one of the eagles rolled it over and then got up off the fluffy new eaglet.
The debut announcement for the eaglet said it weighed about 3.5 to 4 ounces — about the same weight as 18 nickels.
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Eaglets grow fast — about 3.5 ounces a day in their first week. By 13 weeks, they are at full size, experts said.
FYI: A new hatchling weighs about 3.5-4 oz - about the same weight as 18 nickels. They grow about 3.5 oz per day the first week. #americaneaglefoundation #naeaglecam #dceagles #mrpresident #Lotus #LadyoftheUnitedStates #fona #usna #baldeagles #DC #V5 #DCAudubon #birding #USFWS pic.twitter.com/iswWqMenju
— Mr. P & Lotus (@naeaglecam) March 29, 2022
The new eaglet is known as DC9 because it is the ninth egg to hatch in the nest. The sibling that died Saturday shortly after hatching was called DC8. DC9 started to hatch Sunday, a process that typically takes 24 to 36 hours.
The eaglet’s mother, Lotus, is about 5 years old, and she’s a first-time mom. She laid the eggs in mid-February. It takes about 34 to 36 days for an eaglet to incubate and hatch.
Baby eaglet has died, other egg starts to hatch at National Arboretum
Eagles take turns incubating their eggs, and at times the pair were seen eating fish together in the nest and taking turns sitting on the eggs.
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Officials at the arboretum said Monday that they noticed DC8 was “not acting in a normal way” after it hatched and had not lifted its head, sat up or extended its toes. It also had some breathing trouble.
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DC8 could have had a genetic problem inherited from one of its parents or died of fatigue from its difficult hatching or had a “naturally occurring congenital problem,” according to Susan Greeley, a wildlife manager at the arboretum.
A spokeswoman from the arboretum said Tuesday that DC9 is “showing all signs of being healthy” and “appears strong.” She also said the eaglet is “moving around more than DC8” had. With the cold air, arboretum officials said, Lotus has been “very careful about exposing the eaglet.”
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The eaglets’ parents got together last year. Their home is a nest 80 feet up in a tulip poplar tree at the huge arboretum property. Their nest is one of 20 in the Washington region, according to D.C. wildlife biologist Dan Rauch.
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Before Lotus came onto the scene, Mr. President had been partnered with another female bald eagle, named First Lady. They had seven eaglets at the arboretum nest since 2015. Their last one hatched in 2018 but died of West Nile virus.
They had trouble producing offspring after that for three seasons, and, eventually, First Lady left and Lotus moved in. She and Mr. P have become a good pair and good parents, according to Rauch.
Bald eagles have made a comeback across the country after suffering huge losses because of poor water quality, loss of habitat and harmful pesticides that have since been banned. They have adapted to living in suburban and urban areas.
In D.C., they have made nests in trees along the Potomac and Anacostia rivers because they are close to water and can find plenty of small mammals to eat.