The rare occurrence of three bald eaglets hatching together was caught on camera this week at Zoo Miami.
Rita, the bald eagle mother, laid three eggs by Dec. 1, which was surprising because bald eagles typically only lay two eggs a year, according to Zoo Miami. The first eaglet hatched on New Year’s Day, with all three hatching by Jan. 6. The third eaglet did not survive, though.
“Successfully raising three chicks is incredibly rare as the chicks themselves will often be very aggressive with one another to the extent one or more may die,” Zoo Miami said in a statement. “Though difficult to watch, it is a natural behavior where the dominant chick tries to eliminate competition for food.”
After the wild bald eagle parents, named Rita and Ron, lost their nest in a fire, Zoo Miami and Wildlife Rescue of Dade County worked together to provide a stable platform for the eagles to build a new nest.
The Zoo Miami and Wildlife Rescue of Dade County team installed high-definition cameras to stream the activity of the nest online 24 hours a day.
Bald eagles are monogamous and mate for life. A mating pair of eagles typically return to the same nest each year and continue to expand it. Some nests can reach spans of 8 feet wide and over 10 feet deep and weigh more than a ton, according to Zoo Miami.
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The bald eagle is unique to North America and is no longer on the Endangered Species list, according to Defenders of Wildlife. However, it is still protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
