1st eaglet hatches at U.S. Steel bald eagle nest

An egg hatched in the bald eagle nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin plant. 

The first eaglet of the season hatched on Sunday, and it seems like its sibling might not be far behind. PixCams, which runs livestream videos of the nest, posted footage of a pip on the second egg. The newest eaglet is the ninth born at the nest since it was built in 2019.  

A new camera angle offers a bird's-eye view of the nest this year. Viewers can look down on the mom, Stella, as her eaglets hatch and she raises them with Irvin, the dad. 

It's Stella's second season at the nest. She kicked out Irvin's previous companion Claire and set up house. Last year, they raised Ocho, who was the only one of the three eggs to hatch. Ocho accidentally fledged the nest in June when he was practicing his flying and fell. 

Stella and Irvin aren't the only eagle couple Pittsburgh birders are watching this spring. A camera is trained on an eagle nest in Glen Hazel, where the former Hays eagles relocated after a storm blew down their nest. That couple laid two eggs shortly after Irvin and Claire. Eagle parents spend about 35 days incubating eggs before they hatch. 

After the eaglets hatch, they'll grow up quickly, but they'll stick around for a bit. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania says eaglets spend several weeks in the nest and will usually leave in mid-summer, returning until their parents force them to move away.