Chapter 108 Bald Eagle (Thirteen)

The sea eagle couple climbed to the shore with a few tufts of kelp hanging on their heads.

When they looked up, they found that all the birds and people nearby were staring at them.

Sea Eagle Couple: ...

Didn’t we say that Diao Sheng doesn’t have that many viewers? !

Moreover, the bird that was watching the most enthusiastically in the flock was actually its own baby bird!

Look at the little fat boy's posture, he wishes his mommy and daddy could fly into the air so that he can fall again.

Fortunately, there is no such thing as 'social death' in the sea eagle world.

After their cooperation last year, the two sea eagles have confirmed their relationship as husband and wife.

Even if there is a "little" mistake in the courtship dance, it will not affect their relationship as a couple.

After the courtship dance performance, the sea eagle couple confirmed their relationship and began to repair the nest in preparation for hatching eggs.

Looking at the life of a bald eagle, breeding is definitely the most strenuous stage for them.

Even so, bald eagles are still unable to change their robber nature and often fight to snatch suitable branches.

After the renovated bird's nest is inspected and accepted by the female eagle, she will send a signal to the male eagle.

The male eagle has been waiting for this moment with great effort, and immediately jumps onto the back of the female eagle to experience the exciting but fleeting "happiness".

The little fat bird, who was watching the excitement with great interest, discovered the male eagle stepping on his back from afar and was trying to avoid the restricted scene that was "not suitable for few birds".

Before Yu Yijun could look away, the male eagle had already jumped down and flew out of the nest to learn hunting as if nothing had happened. The whole process took only ten seconds.

Yu Yiyun: …

Is your happiness so short-lived?

In the next few days, the male eagle will work hard to hunt and feed the female eagle to supplement nutrition.

About 5-10 days after the combination, the female eagle will lay the first egg and start incubating it.

The peak egg-laying period for Alaskan bald eagles is usually from March to May. According to close observations by zoologists, the egg-laying date for the same pair of bald eagles is almost fixed.

Sometimes, egg laying time differs by only half an hour from last year.

Alaska enters spring in March and April, but the temperature is unpredictable due to the influence of the monsoon.

In some years, it still snows even in May.

The incubation period for bald eagles is 35 days, during which time the temperature must be maintained at around 37°C.

If there is extreme weather such as a snowstorm, and the parents leave the eggs for a few minutes, it will cause hatching failure.

Therefore, during the entire incubation period, sea eagle couples often work in shifts.

While one bird is incubating the eggs, the other bird takes the opportunity to go out and look for food.

If a sea eagle encounters a widowhood during the incubation stage, the lost sea eagle will be forced to abandon the nest.

Every season, the staff of the Wild Orphan Chick Care Association must be 1.2 million points alert to provide assistance to the chicks in need.

However, their rescue efforts are limited to situations where one parent dies and the other abandons the nest.

If the sea eagle couple incubates normally, the staff will not interfere.

In the wild, the main reason for the failure of sea eagle chicks to hatch or their death is not that the sea eagles abandon their nests.

From the moment mommy laid the first egg, Yu Yiyun hovered nearby, using her size advantage to occupy the "idle" bird's nest and secretly observe mommy and daddy incubating the eggs.

On the third day of incubation, the female eagle laid the second egg.

Birds of prey in the hawk family can often only raise one chick, but they generally lay two eggs as a 'double insurance'.

Since the two eggs were produced at different times, their hatching times are also different.

Out of instinct, chicks that hatch earlier will bully or even bite the smaller chicks to death.

If there is sufficient food, or the eldest is a male and the second is a female, the second batch of chicks may be able to survive and leave the nest, otherwise it will be a double insurance loss.

In short, up to this stage, these are all normal operations for birds of prey in the Accipitridae family.

On the evening of the fourth day, Yu Yiyun discovered that the female eagle was becoming a little restless again.

It lasted about half an hour before calm was restored.

When the female eagle stood up and the male eagle came back to take over, Yu Yiyun keenly discovered:

There were three eggs in the nest.

He examined his father in silence.

Although he is very fast, his genetic quality is still good, with two consecutive nests of three eggs each.

Yu Yiyun knew the situation of the third egg very well!

The third egg hatches last and may not hatch at all.

Even if it manages to hatch successfully, with two older brothers and sisters, the chick will inevitably become the biggest victim of Cain-Abel syndrome.

If the little fat bird hadn’t had such strong vitality, it would definitely not have lived to adulthood!

Even if ordinary chicks survive successfully, they will be traumatized for the rest of their lives.

The little fat bird has been caught in the rain, so he wants to hold an umbrella for other birds.

——It’s definitely not because he wants to rub the bird.

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While the female eagle flew out of the nest to look for food, the only one left in the nest was the ignorant and stupid dad who had little social experience.

Yu Yiyun seized the opportunity, spread his wings and flew over.

"oyi~"

Daddy heard the baby's voice and responded loudly.

Little Fatty is the male eagle’s first litter of cubs.

Last year, the cub learned to fly and released its parents directly, showing no intention of relying on them for support.

The next few times it flew back to the nest, it was not to ask for food, but to feed its parents.

The female eagle was so confused by this wave of operations that she didn't even think of expelling her children who had left home.

The younger boy listened to his wife in everything. Seeing that she did not expel the baby, he naturally accepted the child and brought him home.

This year, he became a father for the second time. He had not yet formed the concept that "the eldest child would attack his younger siblings", so he let the fat little bird fall into the bird's nest without any preparation.

The little fat bird flapped its wings and nodded its head, signaling him to stand up.

"oyi?" Daddy didn't understand what was going on, but he still stood up and showed the three steaming bird eggs to the fat little bird.

Based on several days of observation, Yu Yiyun roughly determined the characteristics of the first two bird eggs.

He stretched out his claws and accurately grabbed the third newly laid bird egg, then flapped his wings quickly and flew back into the sky.

"oyi?" Baby, why did you fly away?

The male eagle was confused by the little fat chick. He watched it fly far away before he was ready to sit back and continue incubating the eggs.

Just as he was about to lie down, the male eagle finally realized something was wrong.

It’s over!

Even though he couldn't count, he found that the eggs in the nest seemed to be wrong. They were different from when his wife gave them to him.

What should I do?

The male eagle was in a panic, and the whole bird looked visibly guilty.

After circling the bird's nest, the male eagle's grape-sized brain was smart for once. It picked up the straw used to pad the nest and covered part of the bird's eggs, making it look like there were still eggs hidden underneath.

Then he sat back trembling, praying that his wife wouldn't find out... No way!

The female eagle also couldn't count, but since these were her own eggs, she knew something was wrong.

The female eagle returned to the nest and realized something was wrong. She was so angry that she kicked the male eagle out of the nest, cursing at him.

If the male eagle wasn't needed to incubate the eggs later, she would have wanted to change her partner right now, immediately, and instantly!

"Oyi..."

The male eagle cried out in frustration, and flew out listlessly to look for food and to look for the lost eggs.

At the same time, the culprit had brought the bird's egg back to the stolen mansion, placed it happily in the center, and then sat on it carefully.

The staff on intensive patrol were stunned to see a sub-adult sea eagle sitting on its nest!

You should know that although male sea eagles will sit on a nest, they only incubate their own cubs.

As a typical egoist, the bald eagle is rarely willing to help others hatch their eggs even if their own eggs fail to hatch.

Not to mention the young bird in front of him, which looks only about one year old. It is still too early to reach sexual maturity and has not yet awakened the instinct to sit on the nest.

The staff found it incredible and were about to observe further when they discovered that the bird incubating the eggs was the round black glutinous rice dumpling. Suddenly, they were not so surprised anymore.

Last winter, the black glutinous rice balls went against not only the sea eagle’s instincts, but also the animal’s instincts, and flew from cold Alaska to the even colder Wyoming to spend the winter.

After observation, animal experts believe that the little fat dog has "cognitive impairment" due to long-term contact with other species. It is like the pet thinks it is a human being and imitates human bows and handshakes.

The staff climbed up the tree to observe and confirmed that the little fat bird and the eggs were in normal condition. They left a camera and left.

Yu Yiyun watched the good little guy come and go in a hurry, and secretly complained in her heart:

Now that you're here, can't you bring me something to eat?

After the little fat chick started to hatch the eggs, he realized a serious problem:

It is impossible for a bird to guard the eggs 24 hours a day.

The temperature has been low in recent days, and the bird eggs must have become cold if the incubation has been stopped for more than ten minutes.

Unfortunately, Yu Yiyun’s hunting ability is not as good as that of the peregrine falcon, and he cannot guarantee to catch prey within ten minutes.

The raven noticed the little fat chick's condition and sent it food several times.

The problem is that the little fat bird now is no longer the little fat bird of last year, and its appetite has increased dozens of times.

A raven that can only catch small prey will never be able to feed its son even if it dies of exhaustion.

Given the crow's size, it is difficult to provide sufficient hatching conditions for sea eagle eggs.

Just as Yu Yiyun was feeling worried, two birds flew across the sky.

The little fat boy's eyes lit up and he immediately whistled to call them over. They were indeed his brother and sister.

After a few months of absence, the elder sister has become the "big sister" of the sub-adult sea eagle group.

At the beginning of spring, it is the season when herrings are about to migrate.

Influenced by the little fat fish, the older brothers and sisters decided not to stay on the shore and wait for the herrings to swim over.

They planned to see where the herring was swimming to and look for an opportunity to catch it in advance.

The brave eagle enjoys the herring first!

Who would have thought that before the brave eagle could enjoy the herring, he was captured as a soldier.

“Chirp!”

Yu Yiyun stood up and let them see the eggs under her belly.

"Eggs? I'm not hungry now."

"Chirp." Then I'll eat it.

Just as the brother put his head over and was about to eat the egg, the little fat bird pecked him hard on the head.

"Chirp, chirp!" Eat your sister!

Yu Yiyun realized after she finished cursing that if a female sea eagle hatched, it would become a "eat your sister" in the physical sense.

What a hell of a joke?

He kicked his brother away and demonstrated to the two fools as he had done before, carefully explaining how to use the temperature from his abdomen to keep the eggs warm.

Hatching eggs is a difficult operation for young birds.

When many birds enter the incubation period, the feathers on their abdomens become sparse or even absent to facilitate the transfer of temperature to their young.

In order to increase their chances of survival, young birds that have just overwintered have thicker feathers than adult birds, forming a natural insulation layer.

The little fat bird has to push aside the thick feathers on its abdomen to allow the eggs to be stuck in the down layer in order to provide heat for it.

The elder sister who had a better learning ability observed for a while, then followed Yu Yiyun's example, buried her balls in the feathers, and then lay down on them.

My brother was dumbfounded by the failure of internal competition and being a step behind in everything.

——Then what should I hatch? !