The circle of life was a small one for Berry College’s baby eaglet, born 8:27 a.m Wednesday to the college’s resident eagle couple.
Thursday morning, the college shared the news that little B14 had died overnight.
“We are heartbroken to report that B14 has died overnight, seemingly from exposure, and was at least partially consumed by one of the parents. We must keep in mind that this is not an uncommon occurrence in many eagle nests,” it wrote in a Facebook post.
“I knew something was wrong when the Eaglet was allowed to get to the edge of the nest and the male started pecking him. Also, isn’t it past time for the other egg to hatch?” Lamar Skeebo Gilbert commented on the post.
B15 will be the eaglet in the nest’s second egg, which the mother is still sitting on.
The college doesn’t give the birds names because “they are wild creatures and we do not want to personalize them.”
Apparently, “B14 slipped away from underneath mom and mom stayed with the second egg. B14 was closer to the edge of the nest and mom did not reel her/him back underneath her for food and warmth,” Jeff Casses wrote in an email.
“The female eagle is not the original female who has been on our campus since 2012 producing a number of successful eaglets,” Berry’s director of public relations, Chris Kozelle, said in an email. “She has an injured foot and was replaced by a younger female eagle. She was last seen in December near Lake Guntersville, Ala., where we like to believe she has retired.”
However, he added, “Our eagle experts believe the male is the same resident male eagle.”
If you’re wondering which adult eagle is mama and which is papa, the male is smaller and has a sleek white head. The female is larger with a head of ruffled white feathers.
You can observe the eagle family via Berry’s Eagle Cams — View 1 and View 2 — which are on 24/7. They are equipped with infrared so you can even watch at night.
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