Three Confirmed Eaglets In Will County: Preserve

WILL COUNTY, IL — Last week, the Forest Preserve District of Will County confirmed its first eaglet of the season, and now two more eaglets have been spotted in one of the preserve's active eagle nests, according to a news release.

The two eaglets were spotted in a nest on Monday by volunteer Joel Craig, who was checking on the progress a week after he spotted one eaglet in the same nest.

Craig arrived right at feeding time, and soon saw the female feeding the eaglets, then she momentarily flew off and returned to resume feeding activities, the preserve said. While bald eaglets usually are fed a diet heavy on fish, on this day, a turtle was on the menu.

This is the second time in three years that this particular nest has produced three offspring, the preserve said.

The preserve has not seen eaglets in the second nest it is monitoring, but all indications are that the eggs have hatched. After hatching, activity around a nest will increase, with the male needing to bring in large amounts of food for the very hungry offspring, according to the preserve.

At that nest on Monday, the female was no longer hunkered down, but was moving about the nest while the male kept a watchful eye perched in a tree off in the distance. It also appeared she was feeding offspring, but from our distant vantage point, we did not see any fuzzy heads. It takes some time for the eaglets to get big enough to be visible in the large nest, according to the preserve.

Bald eagle nests are huge, generally measuring 4 feet to 5 feet wide and 2 feet to 4 feet deep.

Eagles and their nests are federally protected, and human interference could cause the birds to abandon the nest and their eggs, the preserve said. The National Audubon Society recommends being at least 330 feet away, about the length of a football field, from a nest. In order to protect these birds, the preserve never publicly discloses nesting locations. If you should come across a nest, be sure to keep your distance.