First baby eagle hatches at Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel Irvin Plant bald eagles' nest
The first eaglet of the season has hatched in the bald eagle's nest at the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant in West Mifflin. The egg hatched early Thursday morning to nesting pair, Irvin and Stella. They had been sitting on standby waiting for the first hatch.
This eaglet comes from the second egg that Stella laid on Feb. 16. It's believed that the first egg, laid on Feb. 13, is not viable, U.S. Steel officials watching the nest said.
The third egg was laid on Feb. 19, and eagle-eyed viewers of the live stream are watching and waiting for another hatch in the coming days. This is the first eaglet for Irvin and Stella; however, Irvin has had eaglets at the nest with his previous mate, Claire.
Bald eagle eggs usually take about 35 days to hatch.
"The eaglets have something called an egg tooth and it's a little kind of nub on their beak, and they use it to push through the egg," Rachel Handel, with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, said.
After that, mom and dad clean out the nest and start feeding the baby birds. The menu around West Mifflin will likely include seafood of sorts.
"Because this nest is on the Mon, it's probably going to be a fish," Handel explained.
- RELATED STORY: First "pip" reported as beloved bald eagle parents in California hope for triplets after two barren years
Irvin and Stella will take turns feeding and keeping the eaglets warm.
As they grow bigger, eaglets begin to spread their wings.
"They will begin a process called branching. Branching is when they start to move outside of the nest and onto branches nearby the nest. Eventually, they'll take what's called their first flight," she said.
You can join the watch for eaglets on this livestream here.
