Baby Booted Eagles

A pretty big collection of screenshots I've taken from the livestream of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park Booted Eagle nestcam over the past month. This year's two chicks, Lasai (hatched June 7th) and Lucky (hatched June 9th), being cute and getting along. Warning that a few screenshots show half-eaten prey pretty clearly.

Mom looks so worried. That's just her face, though. Birds don't have the facial muscles for much change of expression.

The eaglets are like fluffy snowballs. A little over two weeks old here.

Little one playing with a feather.

Three weeks old, starting to grow contour feathers.

Lined up for a feeding.

Morning cuddles at four weeks old. Mom broods them overnight, but here she had just left.

A little allopreening from Lucky.

Toe nibbles in response to the preening.

Big wing stretch.

And a little beaking.

Showing off those eponymous "boots", or feathered lower legs.

Tracking something.

Lasai preening Lucky (who is a month old on this day).

Hunkered down in a thunderstorm.

Prey mantling by each chick.

Mom still feeds them among the practice at self-feeding and food guarding.

A few screenshots of Lasai preening Lucky:

Dad is so small I was confused for a moment about there being three chicks in the nest.

Five weeks old.

Lucky does wing exercises and jumps around (and manages to smack Lasai in the face with one wing flap, but the reaction to that was just to lean back further and continue watching little sibling's workout).

Lucky seems to think Lasai is big enough to brood them?

A bit of preening.

Alright then.

Lasai giving Lucky beak nibbles.

Both moving a stick in the nest.

Six weeks old.

From yesterday morning. Lasai (on the right) is 46 days old, and soon after this had an accidental fledge similar to E15's.

Lasai on the branch.

Lasai slips from the branch and falls, and Lucky is startled by the disappearance of their sibling. As I've understood Lasai did fall to the ground, but later flew up to a branch below the nest. At this age their flight feathers are fully grown, and Lasai could slow their fall, even if they would have preferred to wait a bit longer before leaving the nest tree voluntarily.

Lucky the next morning, waking up alone for the first time in their life.

Lasai spent the night on the branch, and in the morning started making their way back to the nest with short flights between trees. Here Lasai is in the background on the left, while Lucky is getting fed at the nest.

Made it home! Just in time for breakfast.

Such big birdies they are already! Well, on a scale of Booted Eagles, as the species is more hawk-sized, unlike the bigger Bald Eagles I've also been following. Getting close to the age where they can be expected to fledge on purpose, and accidental though it was Lasai has now already discovered the world outside the nest a little bit.

Stay safe you two, you've already made this season a very remarkable one.

Speaking of which, I felt like the brief content note at the beginning of the post - about the chicks getting along, not just about the prey - was necessary as Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus, also classified as Aquila pennata) is one of the eagle species where sibling rivalry often extends to only one chick surviving, and it's common for the younger to not make it past two weeks if even that long. At the moment, however, as mentioned, both chicks are already three times that age, and despite the occasional squabble (which is standard for raptors) have been getting along really well. Sometimes it's like this instead.

That tendency in the species is still something to keep in mind when possibly looking up more content featuring this nest or Booted Eagles in general - siblicide, also known as cainism, occurred at this nest last year (2019 for future reference), and the nestcam was on at the time, so I recommend paying close attention to the year on the video clip's date if the title is vague about the content. It's a natural part of the way of life these animals have adapted to, though, so please don't hate the eaglets that have committed it, either. They just do what they feel they must in order to survive, as not every year's food supply can support as many chicks as have hatched.

The chances for this current clutch yielding two fledglings are looking good, in any case, and the eaglets are adorable, so I thought I'd share.