Sonja
Haller USA TODAY
Published
8:20 AM EDT Apr 15, 2019
Stewards
of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge
Every
bald eagle does its part for the three fuzzy-headed eaglets.
The two
males, Valor I and Valor II, assist the female, Starr, "in nest
maintenance, incubation and raising the young" in Illinois near the
Mississippi River, according to the Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River
Refuge.
The
family is nontraditional, but established after a history of death and
drama.
They
eagles have been documented as nesting together since 2017. Starr laid her
first eggs in September 2018 with support of the two males. Both eggs
hatched, and one of the eaglets successfully fledged, or left the nest. The
other fledgling died from unknown causes.
A complicated
family history
The
history of how these birds became a feathered family is a soap opera of
sorts.
Here's a
fun fact — the two dads were a family unit first. Because before
there was Starr, there was the female Hope. But Hope was injured by
other birds in March 2017 and never returned to the nest. That just left Valor
I and Valor II, who had shared a nest with Hope.
It's
rare, but not unheard of that trios of bald eagles share nests, according to
the National Audubon Society. Documented trios were found
in Alaska in 1977, in Minnesota in 1983 and in California in 1992. Many
times, one bird serves as a helper. But in this case, both birds were
copulating with the females.
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