Spring is coming!  The bald eagles at Hays in the City of Pittsburgh laid their first egg yesterday at 4:45pm!

This the second year the eagles have nested in Hays but the first time we’ve been able to see inside the nest thanks to PixController’s streaming eaglecam and the PA Game Commission’s permission and site assistance.

The egg was immediately breaking news (no pun intended) at the Post-Gazette, Tribune Review, WPXI and KDKA to name just a few.

In this video of the egg’s first on-camera appearance notice the reactions of ‘Ma’ and ‘Pa’ eagle…

• The video begins with the mother eagle standing over her egg, waiting for it to dry.  Her tail is spread and she’s holding her wings open to shelter the egg without touching it.
• When the egg is dry, she gently rolls it with her beak and keeps her talons folded in as she steps near the egg. She is very careful.
• Just before her mate arrives you can hear his “whee” call announcing his arrival.
• Notice how much bigger the female is than her mate.  This size difference is normal in birds of prey.
• Both eagle parents rearrange the sticks, mosses and grasses in the nest.  If you watch peregrine falconcams you’ll notice that peregrines don’t use sticks so there’s nothing to adjust. Watch closely and you’ll see peregrines rearrange the rocks.
• Though the eagles are nesting on an extensive wooded hillside above the Monongahela River, the river banks hosts two active railroad tracks and a scrapyard.  That’s why you hear mechanical and industrial sounds on the camera.

You can watch the eaglecam at several websites. My two favorites are PixController and the National Aviary.  Click on a logo below to watch the Pittsburgh eaglecam.  PixController’s has a link to the video archives.

(video from Bill Powers at PixController)