One of the Big Be Eagles marked another milestone on Thursday. It’s floating in the air for the first time.
Sunny, who turned 12 weeks old on Tuesday, was “hovered” for the first time, overlooking the Big Bear lake, according to Sandy Stears, executive director of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that runs the 24-hour nest cam, 145 feet above the Jeffrey Pine tree.
I have practiced going out on my limbs and flapping my wings and bouncing up and down. Hovering is when the eagle catches the wind at the right moment, letting its body go off the ground, but not completely separate from the nest.
Sunny and Gizmo hatched in March, but their triplet brothers died after a snowstorm brought more than two feet of snow into the area.
Hovering is different from fledgling. Because the latter is when the Eagle actually leaves the nest. Usually, “fredge windows” occur when eagles are 10 to 14 weeks old. The Gizmo is expected to reach 12 weeks on Saturday.
The Sny and Gizmo are about 3 feet tall and are the same size as their father’s. Their wingspan is now over 5 feet long, and the nest they share with their parents – Shadow and Jackie are six feet.
When the Eaglets run away, some will return on the same day, while others will return in a few days.
Jackie and Shadow chase after the UK even after they first fly to teach them how to protect them and find food. The Eagles do not reach sexual maturity until they are four or five years old.
“Sometimes, they’ll come back all the way over a few months and not too long,” Stairs said. “They usually leave the area where they hatched a few months after they were fully taught how to live in the world. Then they travel for a few years.”
Steers said she has learned a lot from observing Sunny and Gizmo in the last few months by having not one but two eagles.
When there is a lot of food, Sunny and Gizmo are very connected and friendly with each other.
“It’s a completely different relationship from when there’s not enough food or when the siblings are competing,” she said. “They were first when they didn’t know if there was a lot of food. The Eagle Chicks fought and tried to drive the other away.”
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