Lights, camera, talons: EagleCam is back online with new tech
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ EagleCam is back for a second season at its new location, with new tech to improve video quality and a strategy to cover the possibility of two different nest locations.
Normally, the EagleCam starts its livestream in November, but the stream started a little later this year, with the first stream loading on to YouTube and the DNR website on Tuesday. DNR staff wanted to confirm that the nesting pair have started their preparations for the mating season before going live.
“They have been visiting the nest quite frequently, bringing in sticks and leaves and doing sort of general restorations to get their nest ready for the breeding season,” said Elizabeth Nault-Maurer, a communications specialist with the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program.
The pair of eagles have been nesting in the area for about five years, and they have fledged chicks at that site in the past, including two female chicks last year.
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Now that the pair have picked their nest, the eagles will be pretty active as they prepare for breeding season, which usually begins in January. They’ll lay between one to three eggs in January or February, then at least one parent will stay on the nest to continue incubating the eggs, switching off to allow the other to hunt and gather food.
About 35 days after the eggs arrive — sometime around March — the chicks will usually hatch. Then, the activity picks up as both parents start to bring food back for the chicks. In May, the chicks begin to fledge, preparing for the end of June or July when they’ll fly away from the nest on their own.
The new location was chosen after the original nest fell in April 2023. The original site still hosts a web camera that viewers can watch for a chance to see the formerly featured eagles and other wildlife visiting the site.
There were a few unique challenges — and surprises — in the first year at the new location. The eagle pair picked a different nest location about 300 yards away from the installed camera. Then high winds shifted the camera angle, preventing a clear shot of the nest.
“In the off season, we had some discussions as a team about what we wanted to do for this season,” said Nault-Maurer.
The team decided to position the camera so both nests would be visible and let the nesting eagles take their pick for nest real estate. Now that the pair have picked their nest and are starting to prepare for the breeding season, Nault-Maurer said it gives their team valuable information to plan for future live streams of the chosen nest.
“So it’s not going to be that up-close iconic eagle cam view that we were really fortunate to get in our first eagle cam location, but it is a better view of the nest than it was last year.”
One pleasant surprise with nest-switching: a duck moved into the abandoned nest location in April.
“You know, a mallard moving into an abandoned bald eagle’s nest was a first for me,” Nault-Maurer said with a laugh. “But yes, last year we did briefly have a duck cam. Even though it was only a couple hundred yards away from an active bald eagle nest, she went, ‘Wow, this looks like a great place to lay some eggs and raise some ducklings.’”
Nault-Maurer said the nest live stream has helped to highlight the restoration of bald eagles in Minnesota and around the country. The stream draws viewers from more than 150 countries and all 50 states in the U.S. It also provides a fundraising venue for the nongame wildlife program, allowing Minnesota to continue protecting at-risk wildlife.
“One of my favorite parts of my job is having people share how much the EagleCam means to them,” she said. “We would not have been able to do any of that without the support of Minnesotans donating to the program and donating to the Nongame Wildlife Fund on their tax check-off.”
Gifts to the Nongame Wildlife Fund can be made online anytime at mndnr.gov/donate or on Minnesota income tax forms.
