Photos: Baby eagles get a spring checkup

Eaglet
National Park Service biologists measured and banded an eaglet Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul. The bird weighed about 4 1/2 pounds.
Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Scientists from the National Park Service are conducting an eagle survey along the Mississippi River and elsewhere, collecting blood and feather samples from eaglets to measure contaminants the eaglets ingest from their prey. Climbers retrieve the bald eagle nestlings, then biologists typically weigh and measure the birds, and collect blood and feather samples. The eaglets are then returned to the nest.

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