Mother Eagle Protects Her Nest Even When It’s Covered In Snow

A bald eagle exemplifies everything mothers do to keep their children safe and secure. In Shepherdstown, West Virginia, USA, a mother eagle called Bella battles the elements to keep her eggs warm. She doesn’t mind being completely engulfed in snow as long as she keeps the tiny ones safe.

Bella and her partner, Smitty, returned to their nest, which is located 100 feet up in an extraordinary huge sycamore tree near the Potomac River, to raise their offspring, as they have done every year since 2011.

Both parents take turns caring for the eggs, however the female eagle is normally seen sitting on the nest 80% of the time, while the male is usually hunting or fishing.

On Facebook, Randy Robinson, a National Conservation Training Center instructional systems expert, said:

“Eagles make excellent parents. They sit on the eggs at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week.”

When eagles lay their eggs, they are prepared to resist any type of harsh weather, including snow, hail, freezing rain, and other forms of bad weather.

As a result, even during a heavy snowfall, the mother eagle does not leave the nest and continues to guard her babies.

Randy also elaborated:

“They marry and deposit their eggs very early in the year, in January or February, so the weather is quite terrible with snow and ice, like we have had here in the previous two weeks.” The benefit of laying your eggs early is that the offspring will hatch sooner. And there will be ample of food when these young hatch in mid-March.”

The female is generally bigger than the male and is responsible for taking considerably more care of the eggs in order for them to hatch successfully. As a result, the eggs are continually in contact with the exposed skin of her belly, known as the brood pouch, and she must flip the eggs every hour to thoroughly warm them.

In addition, you should maintain the grass dry so that the eggs have a soft, warm spot to lay their eggs.

The eagles’ thick plumage helps them survive in cold weather, and their powerful, sharp beaks and talons are ideal for fending off any threat that gets close to the nest.