A week later, he was surprised to learn the young hawk was still alive and living in the eagle’s nest. Gillard nicknamed it Tuffy and toldBay Naturethat he was unsure of the sex of the little bird. Gillard, a professor at Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, California, later published a video of the female adult eagle feeding and caring for Tuffy.
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California bald eagle with eaglet in nest.Jann Nichols/ AMAZING ANIMALS+/ TMX
Jann Nichols/ AMAZING ANIMALS+/ TMX
Gillard has continued to closely monitor the situation in the eagle’s nest with the remaining hawk and has kept the nest’s exact location off social media to protect the birds. The birds mostly ignore any humans who have located the nest, Gillard toldBay Nature.
Since the second eyas died, Tuffy has become nervous. “Whenever a big eagle comes, he runs to the back of the nest and hides, then comes back out to eat,” Gillard toldBay Nature.
On June 12, Lola left the nest for the first time. Themother eaglethen brought three meals - a duckling, squirrel, and another small bird - back to the nest, possibly to attract Lola back to the nest, Gillard told theChronicle. However, Tuffy ate the food instead.
Birdwatchers are now concerned about when Tuffy will fledge — the term for when birds grow feathers large enough to fly on their own.
LaBarbera predicts a “rough road ahead” for Tuffy. The bird may think of itself as an eagle and try to bond with young eagles who are not as accepting as the mother eagle who adopted it.
Members of theFriends of the Redding Eagles Facebook group, where Gillard shared his photos,also spotted a red-tailed hawk and bald eagle pairingin 2019.
source: people.com
