Bald Eagles And Chicks Cam...

[Deleted member 28403]

It's really nice how they feed. Though. I somehow didn't notice the markings, the number things. What do they actually mark?

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I was watching them feed and noticed that the chicks have blue tags on each of their wings, different eagles. I have been watching the other on most of the time and now I will be watching both of the.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I have a lot of questions myself on this one. Someone had to go into the nest to do that and you would think that the mother would have rejected them for the smell of human on the chicks. I do not know why they are tagged.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

This is so amazing.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Indeed

 

[Owl.]

They're patagial markers for research purposes. Just one of several ways one can tag wild birds to make them identifiable even by a layman should they be observed (with these huge mofos that works even at a distance) or found injured or dead. Any wildlife research center should be able to tell from a picture or a description of a tag/number/code which research/conservation project a bird belongs to.

It's not the easiest, most pleasant or least dangerous task to tag, band or flag a wild bird, especially young raptors with their parents still around, but contrary to the ole rumors, the young won't get rejected for smelling of human. Birds generally can't smell worth a damn. :)

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Oh, yea, I heard somewhere about the birds having sucky smell and the rejection thing. And sorta assumed they were tags. But like 2 tags per bird? I cannot really figure out how did they put them there other than the wings. THe other option is standard leg wrap tag, but it seems to be on the wing.

Anyway, you are an @Owl. , what are you doing here with eagles :P

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you @owl for the explanation of this mystery now solved by you. I appreciate this very much. Another myth busted!:)

 

[Owl.]

@Saelben - Birds of a feather stick together! :laugh:
Raptor is raptor, and this owl is friend to all of them. :)

Not every bird can support a tag that size or fly unhindered with them. Leg bands are pretty much the standard identifier, but if you want/need a relatively cheap way to identify a bird in flight all quick-n-dirty like, the patagial kind works rather well. Properly fitted, they don't bother a bird this size at all.

There's various ways of tagging wings, some markers wrap around the leading edge and through a natural gap in the feathers, some are pierced through the skin in one of the few spots where that doesn't damage the muscle. The process does hurt the bird, but really no more than getting an earlobe pierced hurts a human - and if there's one thing that's worse in raptors than their sense of smell, it's their memory. They've forgotten all about the tagging process by the next meal. :)

There's two per bird for various reasons, none of which is balance. lol
The main ones being that a) The bird itself or outside influences may damage/tear off one tag, so it's always good to have a spare and b) Having one on each side allows an observer to identify a perching bird when it's just not possible to get to a position where one could see the other side.

The whole business of marking actually is quite an interesting subject, but, dammit, we're here to enjoy watching some mighty majestic creatures as they prepare to reign the skies, not to drown in theory about raptor-fashion, so...carry on. :laugh:

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Cool :)

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Feeding!

 

[Ronin]

Watchingt the Santa Cruz ones...they're being lazy. Sleeping I think.