Mom Harriet feeding, currently giving food to E16. Special guest appearance by the squirrel plushie Harriet brought to the nest the other day and was confused not to find any meat in. It's since been used as eaglet pillow a few times.
Harriet shading the kids as the day gets hotter.
E16 is still noticeably smaller. I've seen some viewers express worry about this, but E16 is two and a half days younger (the biggest age difference between siblings seen in this nest during the time it's had a camera in it, though not exceptionally large for eaglets in general), and may take until they're fully grown to catch up in size because baby birds simply grow really fast. It's too early to make much guesses about what sex the eaglets are yet, but if E15 happens to be female and E16 male, then the catching up just won't happen anyway, because male eagles are smaller than females. Both eaglets have been getting plenty to eat, finishing feedings with visibly full crops and ready for a "food coma" nap. E15 eats more because a bigger body requires more food to keep running, but E16 seems to eat just as much in proportion to their size.
It's understandable to be concerned; it's hard not to get emotionally attached to these animals and it's not a bad thing if one does, and it is true that the youngest eaglet tends to have a tougher time in the nest. Eagle parents will often feed the older eaglet first, and get to the younger if there's still food left, as an evolutionary adaptation to ensure that if there's not enough food to sustain two eaglets, they'll have at least one well-fed eaglet likely to make it to fledging, rather than two half-starved ones.
Sibling rivalry is also a normal part of eaglets' growth, and it's not uncommon to see the older eaglet give the younger the occasional "bonk" with its beak, provoked or unprovoked. This is instinctual behavior, and usually happens at least a little even when food is abundant. How intense the fighting is varies a lot from nest to nest and clutch to clutch, but the behavior in itself is not a sign of problems. The eaglets learn in this way skills that will help them survive when they're on their own, during their nomadic years as juveniles and subadults, and when they eventually settle down in a territory as adults and start raising eaglets of their own, which they'll need to fiercely protect from any possible danger. Whether it's how to establish dominance or how to de-escalate conflicts, it'll be useful to know how to do. Both eaglets will learn both lessons, from their own ways of handling competition and from watching each other's.
In the case of Harriet and M15, their history and every day with their current clutch shows they are very attentive to that every eaglet in their nest gets fed, and along with the usual feeding the older eaglet first they often also feed both eaglets simultaneously, either with each parent feeding one baby or one parent taking turns giving each eaglet a beakful. In some feedings E15 will get all the food, and E16 will get a private feeding later while E15 sleeps after the big meal, which is also normal. So is the adults sometimes offering the eaglets food and taking it away if the baby doesn't immediately catch it, to teach them to be quick and not let opportunities pass them by.
E15 and E16 have shown some sibling rivalry, but it has been pretty mild in my opinion. E16 has actually started some of their bonk matches, and I've seen that little one give as good as they get, though lately E16 has begun to also learn less confrontational methods for getting to the food, which is not a sign of giving up, quite the contrary. Knowing when to be submissive and bide one's time, and cleverly positioning oneself away from the bonks but still where the feeding happens, is those important life lessons being learned right on schedule. Sibling rivalry usually begins to lessen after a few weeks, and at least so far fights in this clutch have been pretty sparse since their first day together when they had not a match but a tournament. Neither got injured, and it was actually pretty comical to me, with neither baby being very good at even holding their big head up. For actually intense sibling rivalry at this nest, one can look up the 2015-2016 season, starring the spitfire that's M's firstborn E7, and little E8 who had a trouble magnet attached to their back apparently, but still made it to leaving to explore the world as a healthy, young eagle. E15 and E16 are getting along fine in comparison.
Both chicks are growing well, and the admins at the nestcam site's chat who are more knowledgeable on these animals than I am have been regularly giving reassurances and explanations on how what we've seen of their development so far is not cause for any particular concern.
Youtube comments are a special can of worms, I know, but sometimes useful information is still hidden in there, especially on videos about something sciencey, because experts on any given field have internet, too, so I still check them. Sometimes on video captures from nestcams, one runs into the kind of comments caused by forgetting that what we're here to do by watching those videos is to observe nature the way it is. There are cute moments, and there are tragedies, both of which we've seen at Harriet and M's nest this season, and there are animals sometimes doing things we don't like all that much. I've seen every eagle whose nestcam I've checked get called a bad parent, sometimes an abusive spouse, and every older eaglet a dozen variations of bully. Rather hilariously, I saw a female peregrine falcon once get a barrage of heated (and gendered, of course) insults directed at her in response to her acquiring a nesting site and a mate by killing her male's previous mate and some of their chicks (not shown on camera in any graphic detail, to be clear), which despite our view on the matter she has no reason to see any wrongdoing in, from her own peregrine falcon perspective. I mean, dear angry commenters, you do understand that's a bird, right...? Whatever slurs you're calling her in your outburst, she's never going to read it.
Certainly some things about the way various modern dinosaurs do things would be a bad thing when done by humans, but these aren't humans we're watching, and it's important to remember not to judge animals by human moral standards, because they don't live by them. The eaglets aren't mean to each other, and E7 wasn't a bully, either. They're animals doing what instinct tells them they must do in order to survive. With millions of years of evolution leading up to them being the way they are, I'm sure they know more about how to properly be an eagle or a falcon than we do, which is why we're observing them, to learn about them. Not because they're an example of how we, too, should live our own lives, but because a creature has value as part of this world even if it's not exactly like us.
There have been some comments to videos of E15 and E16 interacting that I find far more sad to see than the interactions themselves, where the commenter is very clear about that they wish ill on a little baby bird for the way it behaves. At that point I think it would be best for one to step back a little to calm down and regain some perspective. Harriet and M15 have already had to experience losing a chick this season with E14, and these bundles of fluff they're caring for now are cause for celebration just for existing. It's understandable to not want to watch everything they do, but if one does watch, it's best to remember that what we have here is a window into the lives of wild animals, not a story being performed for our sake, and seeking information helps explain why the things seen in that animal life happen the way they do. That little eagles are showing natural eagle behaviors is a good thing - it means they're learning how to eagle.
Also, please enjoy this screenshot of E16 using E15's butt as a pillow.
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