News and Blogs

Has Hatch Started at Great Spirit Bluff?

April 24, 2026: Pip at Great Spirit Bluff?

Happy Falcon Friday! Has hatch started at Great Spirit Bluff? Look for a small mark towards the blunt end of the center left egg. I love Elaine’s soft chirp and contented look as she snuggles them beneath her. Enjoy Elaine’s peaceful dozing now…Great Spirit Bluff is about to get busy. Peregrines start full incubation after they lay their penultimate egg and most peregrines lay four egg clutches, so we usually set hatch date 33 days after egg number three. Elaine

Bald Eagle Conservation and Recovery in the United States

Posters from the first Earth Day

I thought I would write a little bit about Bald Eagle conservation and recovery in the United States. I think most of our followers are aware of the eagle’s close brush with extinction due to DDT, but that was not the first narrow escape for America’s national bird. While John James Audubon is celebrated as an artist, naturalist, and ornithologist, he was no friend to the bald eagle, or raptors in general. In the 1830’s, Audubon accused bald eagles of

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day Poster

Happy Earth Day, everyone! We were racking our brains for an Earth Day post when RRP Director John Howe came up with one after watching the video below. “I see two different species telling you to hunt and fish lead-free. It’s better for the Earth, it’s better for Bald Eagles, and it’s better for you and your family.” So we’re keeping it simple this Earth Day. As one of our partners said: “Anybody can be a conservationist – you don’t

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Three

April 26, 2025: Sweet eagle dreams, TE3!

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week three in this blog. DH3 and DH4 turned 24 and 22 days old today. During week two (seven to 14 days),

Bald Eagle D27 Found Dead

August 9, 2017: D27 near N2B.

We’re sorry to announce that Bald Eagle D27 was found dead near Castalia, Iowa earlier this year. She was the daughter of Mom and Dad – the original Decorah Eagles – and we followed her travels from August of 2017 through September of 2022, when her transmitter failed. To see her travels, click the link and select the Make A Map tab: https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/ D27 was killed by lead poisoning, almost certainly the result of exposure via lead shot or fishing

What is a brood patch?

March 30, 2018: Mrs. North's brood patch

Daylight length, or photoperiod, strongly influences hormone production in birds. In the northern hemisphere, our story begins shortly after the winter solstice in December. As daylight length increases, a cascade of hormones causes birds’ gonads to swell in preparation for reproduction, egg-laying, and incubation. In this blog, we’ll discuss the role the brood patch plays in incubation and determining clutch size. How do bald eagles keep their eggs warm in subzero temperatures? They nestle eggs up against a special area

How Do You Tell HD and HM2 Apart?

March 30, 2026: HD visits the nest, but HM2 isn't interested in giving up her spot.

We’re getting questions about how to tell HD and HM2 apart. ID can be pretty tricky, but here are a few pointers. When the two are together, it’s pretty easy to tell them apart since HM2 is quite a bit bigger than HD. She has a larger head, a longer beak, and a deeper brow. HM2’s Distinguishing Features Look for a dark beauty mark behind HM2’s right eye and more ‘eyeliner’ on both sides: a consequence of her deeper brow.

Monday NetFlix Mega Raptor Roll: Eaglets and Eggs!

April 6, 2026: a cuddle huddle! DH4 left, DH3 right. You can see the difference in size and their adorable little earholes. Enjoy them now!

We have your Monday mega-raptor roll Nestflix! But before we get to the movies… Decorah Eagles DH3 and DH4 are in their second week of life. We saw our first adorable PS on March 30 (the same day that bonking began), a long rainy day on April 2, a nice tandem feeding on April 4, and – unusually – a chipmunk on April 5. Suckers are spawning and eagles prefer fish, but the chipmunk must have been an easy catch

Hoppy Easter, everyone!

Hoppy Easter!

Hoppy Easter, everyone! We have eggs at many of the falcon nests we watch and plenty of places to go on an Easter egg hunt! Bald eagles lay white eggs, peregrine falcons lay eggs that range from light cream through brick red, and red-tailed hawks have pale eggs that are lightly splotched with brown. How and why do the birds we watch lay differently colored and shaped eggs? https://www.raptorresource.org/2026/04/02/egg-colors-and-shapes/ How many treats did DH3 and DH4 find in their Easter

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