Arconic: Eagle eggs likely lost after intrusion of third eagle

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    DAVENPORT, Iowa (WQAD) — Arconic has unfortunately revealed that this year’s eagle eggs may not be hatching, potentially due to a third eagle that showed up in the area.

In a Facebook post, Arconic Eagle Cam revealed that they don’t expect this year’s pair of eggs to hatch after observing the actions of the parents.

Arconic says that on Saturday, March 27, Liberty and Justice were away from the nest for the majority of the day, only returning later at night. On the following Sunday, the pair was still mostly absent, but periodically returned to the nest for a short time.

This is a dire sign, because a pair of adult eagles sit on and incubate their eggs almost constantly, unlike some other bird species that more commonly leave the eggs alone in the nest for small periods of time.

While the exact details aren’t clear, Arconic says the eggs could potentially have been unviable for an unknown reason, but they also have another theory based on recent events.

Arconic says that a third adult eagle was spotted encroaching on Liberty and Justice’s nest and harassing them. They say that the eggs could potentially have been damaged in a fight between the couple and the third eagle.

No matter the cause, Arconic is anticipating that there will not be an egg hatching this year.

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