Photo above- left to right NE (youngest), NC (oldest- Camellia), ND (middle) – waiting to be returned to their nest – Photo Reese F Lukei Jr
On May 5 the three Norfolk Botanical Garden eaglets were removed from their nest to be weighed, measured and identification bands placed on their legs by wildlife biologists from the Center for Conservation Biology. Data collected from these eaglets will be added to data from other eagles from the Chesapeake Bay region. The weight and measurements of ND and NE confirm that they are both males when compared to data averages from other Chesapeake Bay bald eagles of similiar age. However, the weight and measurements from NC fall in between the averages for male and female. NC is likely a male, but for the time being will be classified as unknown.
Female   Male      NC        ND          NE
Avg.       Avg.
Weight in grams                                     4100     3300      3705    3260      3368
Culmen length with cere                          61mm   57mm    60.2     58.1       57.1
Culmen length without cere                     49mm   44mm    46.3     44.1       44.4
Culmen depth                                        32mm   29mm    30.3     29.6       29.2
Hallux (hind talon)                                 37mm    34mm   35.8      33.7       33.7
Tail                                                      19cm      19cm     20.5    19.7       18.0
Wing chord (tip to wrist)                        39cm      39cm     40.0     40.0      38.3