An egg has been laid in the rebuilt bald eagles' nest in Hays, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania confirmed Monday.
The eagles started building a new nest after winds that gusted up to 60 mph knocked over the tree last Sunday. The sycamore tree is a couple of hundred yards to the right of the old nest.
While there is no webcam on the new nest, experts made the determination based on the adult eagles' behaviors, including:
- An adult eagle has been on the nest consistently for more than 24 hours.
- The adult eagles are taking turns on the nest, never leaving it unattended. They're also laying down within the nest, a sign of incubation.
- When the adult stands up, it is seen leaning down into the nest, indicative of egg-rolling behavior. The eagles roll the egg in the nest to ensure that the egg maintains a consistent temperature. The adults then lays back down over the egg to continue incubation.
Experts with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania said the egg was already being developed within the female's body after the prior nest collapsed.
An eagle egg takes approximately 35 days to hatch, which means the expected date of hatching will be around March 26.
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Bald eagles lose 1st egg of 2017 after storm destroys their nest (2/13/17)
Pittsburgh eagles get to work building new nest (2/16/17)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Associated Press
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