What to Know
- Liberty and Justice's first egg hatched on Saturday, March 17.
- Another egg is set to hatch next week.
- The pair of mating bald eagles are estimated to be between 19 and 21 years old and have resided in the nest since about 2004, the ECC said.
Liberty and Justice, two bald eagles who constructed a nest in Southwest D.C. near the Metropolitan Police Academy, have welcomed two new hatchlings.
The second egg hatched Monday, just two days after the first baby bird emerged from its shell Saturday morning, on St. Patrick's Day. The eaglets and their parents can be seen on the Earth Conservation Corps’ livestream of the nest.
Liberty laid the egg, called ECC3, on Feb. 7 and ECC4 landed in the nest on Feb. 11. Both hatched right on time.
They don't have names yet, but classrooms around the country are invited to submit their name ideas. Interested teachers can email Tommy.Lawrence@earthconservationcorps.org for information on how to submit names.
The mating bald eagles are likely between 19 and 21 years old and have resided in the nest since about 2004, the ECC said. The nest has been in place since 2005.
The nest features several layers of protection and is made from sticks, twigs, hay and tall grass, the ECC said. When the mating season begins, the eagles accumulate sticks to prepare.
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It's common for the eagles to lay over their eggs for about five weeks until they hatch, the ECC said. Though eagles mate for about 10 months, females are only fertile for about two weeks.
Liberty and Justice constructed one of three bald eagle nests in D.C. Environmentalists believe that the improving health of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers have contributed to the increased eagle nest presence.