The Wildlife Center of Virginia releases one of five juvenile eaglets into the wild. Photo by the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

On Wednesday, the Wildlife Center of Virginia had cause for celebration when they released five juvenile bald eagles into the wild.

Three of the eagles were famous because a webcam had been tracking their daily activities in their nest at a botanical garden.  However, when their mother was killed after being struck by an airplane in April, webcam viewers became concerned for the chicks and alerted the wildlife rescuers. So the Wildlife Center of Virginia took the chicks into their care.

The other two eaglets were rescued independently; one was found in a landfill with its wing caught in some netting, and the other was found in a field in an emaciated condition.

For more information about the eagles’ release, see:

Wildlife Center of Virginia
The News Virginian
NBC29

To learn more about bald eagles, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Bald Eagle.

The Philadeplia Zoo recently welcomed an eaglet. While the eaglet’s parents are unable to live in the wild, their baby will not be raised in the confines of the zoo. The Philadelphia Zoo and the Pennsylvania Game Commission worked together to bring the eaglet out of the zoo and back into the wild. The baby was placed in a nest with two other eaglets in an undisclosed location north of Philadelphia. This is the second time the zoo and game commission have placed a captive born eaglet in the wild.

For more information visit Philly.com

Thousands of people have been watching Hancock Wildlife Foundation‘s live streaming video footage of a bald eagle’s nest on Vancouver Island, Canada to try to catch a glimpse of three eaglets hatching. The mother laid the eggs in early March. As the gestation period of a bald eagle is around 35-40 days, the eaglets are expected to hatch this week.

For more info and to see more eagle nest web cams, visit: HWF Live Cameras

To learn more about bald eagles, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Bald Eagle.

Stephen Colbert Jr., the most famous bald eagle in the world (named for the star of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report), was caught on camera recently in Klamath Falls, Oregon by Jack Noller.

The eagle, now 2.5 years old, was the result of a breeding program at the San Francisco Zoo in California.  Tagged A-46, Stephen Jr. has been recorded flying up from California to Canada and back down south.

For more information about the sighting, see:
The Seattle Times – “Stephen Colbert’s eagle spotted in Oregon”
Herald and News – “Famous bald eagle lands in the Basin”

To learn more about bald eagles, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Bald Eagle.