First DC Bald Eagle Chick Hatches (Video)

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. bald eagle parents Liberty and Justice have just welcomed their first baby chick into the world, the Earth Conservation Corps announced Wednesday afternoon.

The first of two eaglets emerged from its shell at around 12:30 p.m. in its nest 110 feet above the Metropolitan Police Academy in Southeast.

Liberty is currently keeping her newborn warm and safe, and Justice is out hunting to keep the family fed. The second egg could hatch in the next few days.

You can watch the eaglet watch here:

Once both eaglets hatch, ECC will announce their names. The ECC is live streaming their nest at Eaglecam.org, and it is currently running an eaglet-naming contest. A total of 200 names were submitted over the weekend, according to the ECC.

Pollution drove bald eagles from D.C. in 1946, but the story began to change in the 1990s, when volunteers from the Earth Conservation Corps launched an effort to bring the national symbol home to D.C.

"Under U.S. Fish and Wildlife permits, the Corps translocated sixteen baby eagles from nests in Wisconsin to an artificial 'hack box' at the U.S. National Arboretum," an ECC statement reads. "After being raised for six weeks at the Arboretum the juvenile eagles were released into the skies over Washington. Four eaglets were released every spring from 1994 to 1998. Between the eagles restoration efforts the youth of the Earth Conservation Corps galvanized the entire city in their mission to restore the eagles' Anacostia River habitat.

"In the spring of 1999, right on schedule, five years after the first release, bald eagles, Monique and Tink (named after fallen corps members) established the first bald eagle nest in Washington in over half a century. In 2005, Liberty and Justice (named by Chief Cathy Lanier) built their nest at the Police Academy. In 2015, a third pair finally picked a nest site where it all began at the National Arboretum."

You can view the live Eagle Cam here.

Image via ECC