Diane Hord, age 12, of Houston, Texas, for her question:
How does an eagle teach her young to fly?
The lordly eagles are birds of prey and without them the wilds would be over run with ratty rodents. Most of them patrol vast territories and some have wings that spread more than seven feet wide. Their family life is a model of excellence, even in the bird world, which teems with excellent parents.
The flight of an eagle lifts your heart high above the patchy green and brown earth and takes it soaring for miles and miles. Our favorite species is the white headed American eagle, commonly called the bald eagle, that once ranged over most of our continent. The faithful parents mate for life and use the same nest year after year, sometimes through several generations.
Female birds of prey are larger than the males and the wings of the female American eagle may span almost seven feet. But the large lady is not too proud to share her family duties with her mate. Both parents incubate the eggs, feed the youngsters and teach them what eaglets must know to survive.
The nest is near a stretch of water, where these big birds fish for their favorite food. It is a huge pile of sticks and vegetation usually perched in the fork of a tall tree, often 80 feet above the ground. As a rule, there are two pale blue eggs, less than three inches long which is rather small for such a big mother bird.
The precious eggs do not hatch for a month to six weeks, during which time the handsome parents take turns at sitting on the nest. The newly hatched eaglets have big fluffy heads and coats of soft white down. Now the devoted parents toil to bring them morsels of food.
The parents tease and coax the young eaglets to stretch and reach for their food. The all important flying instruction begins long before the young wings are ready for flight. It is based on a system of rewards and punishments small punishments for in attention and large rewards for success.
What seems to be a wrestling game between a parent and a bulky eaglet actually is pre flight instruction. The youngsters are pushed, prodded and shaken to encourage them to perch securely while exercising their frantically flapping wings. This instruction lasts several months.
As the young wings grow stronger, the parents play rougher and tougher games. They tease the eaglets to reach farther for their food. They coax them to the edge of the nest. And finally the big birds dangle tasty morsels a few feet away from the nest. The eaglets must take a few daring flaps in the air or go hungry. So, almost without knowing it, the young birds are coaxed to take their first flights.
Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the best known eagle is the great golden eagle. In ancient times, he was elected the King of Birds. Golden eagles also mate for life and spend most of the year tending and teaching their offspring. Some observers say that he shares the incubating, others say that he feeds the female while she sits on the eggs. In any case, both parents toil to feed their eaglets. And both play rough wrestling games designed to teach the young ones to fly.