Feisty, fishy nest

Screenshots from Southwest Florida Bald Eagle nest. Warning for views of prey, and some sibling rivalry.

From earlier this week, dad M15 brooding the chicks. I think the sleepy one is the younger sibling E22 and the one looking around is E21, but they're close to being the same size at this point, so hard to tell.

Small wings and talons.

Napping again, as babies do. E21 on the left, E22 on the right.

E22 closeups.

E21 up, E22 down (after getting a bonk for waking up E21, also confirming I identified them correctly).

E21 is two weeks old now.

Mom Harriet feeding the chicks supper. E22 eating here.

And some for E21, too. Quite the crop on the little one!

Eaglets asleep yesterday morning. E21 left.

E22 cropdrop (moving food from crop to stomach).

E22, who is now also 2 weeks old.

E21.

And E22 again.

Harriet gives E22 a private feeding while E21 naps.

E22 got quite a few beak bonks from its older sibling yesterday, as is normal for them at this age, if not always fun to watch. The older eaglet enforces a pecking order to ensure it gets fed, and though food is abundant, Harriet is a pretty fierce eagle herself, and her chicks have inherited that temperament each year. Being aggressive will keep them fed out in the world when they leave the nest, and learning to be sneaky around an aggressive sibling will teach the younger eaglet important survival skills as well. Both eaglets also learn from watching each other, to employ each other's methods of getting food when they need to.

M15 arrives, and E22 decides dad's fish looks tastier.

Unfortunately the fish is also close enough to E21 to wake up the sibling. But E22 did get plenty of food, too.

Sleepy, full-cropped eaglets. E22 on the left has a fish mattress.

E21 preening its crop.

And piled. E21 on top.