MINNESOTA, USA — Just in time for Valentine's Day, a pair of bald eagle parents are busy showering their newest bundle of joy with love.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced on Monday that the female bald eagle tracked on their Nongame Wildlife EagleCam has laid her first egg of the year.
According to the DNR, eagles tend to lay their eggs around sunset. In the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 12, the female landed in her nest and appeared to prepare for birth, but it was a false alarm. A few minutes later, she settled back in and laid her egg.
The DNR expects one to two more eggs this season. Last year, eggs were laid just a few days apart, so another egg-citing birth could be on the horizon.
So what's next in the lifecycle for an eagle egg? Much like their human counterparts, the male and female will trade-off egg-sitting for the next 40 days, alternating keeping the egg warm and taking breaks to find food and stretch their wings.
Once the incubation period is up, the eaglets hatch from their eggs without any help from mom and dad. The hatching process is called piping and can take an entire day. You can watch the entire process live on the DNR's YouTube page.
And you don't have to be an eagle-eyed bird watcher to spot one of the national birds soaring across the state. According to the DNR, Minnesota has more bald eagles than any other state in the lower 48.
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