Written by Carla Schneider
January 10, 2009
Bald eagle chick (approximately 55 days old) from Maryland, fitted with an ultra-light satellite transmitter, identical to the one that will be placed on one of the NBG eagle chicks when it has reached the correct age. Photo by Bryan Watts.
CCB researchers banded and measured the three healthy chicks from the bald eagle nest at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens (NBG) as an Earth Day event, Wednesday April 22nd. In May, CCB will return to the nest to fit the largest eaglet with a satellite-transmitter, enabling researchers and interested citizens to learn about the young eagle’s travels after it fledges from the nest at NBG. CCB will be setting-up the EagleTrak Blog to give the public a research perspective on the NBG eagles’ activities and create a venue for questions and comments to be answered by CCB staff.
Research Associate Reese Lukei and CCB Director Bryan Watts holding two of the eagle chicks from the nest at Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Reese manages the NBG Eagle Cam and monitors the nest year round for CCB. Photo by the Center for Conservation Biology.
A brood of osprey in Mobjack Bay showing a well-fed chick (left) and an emaciated chick (right). The chick on the right would die the following week due to starvation. Work in Mobjack Bay over a 40+ year period has shown that both reproductive rates and food delivery rates have declined dramatically. The decline in provisioning has led to an increase in brood reduction or chick loss due to starvation. Photo by Bryan Watts.