What's next after the Minnesota EagleCam nest collapse? Five things to know about raptors

While fans of Minnesota's EagleCam commiserate over images of the parents perched at the site of a nest that no longer exists — and pity the days-old eagle chick that was killed when the nest fell Sunday morning — the confluence of factors that contributed to the sad end of the roost is a reality of the wild. Yet there, too, exists some hope.

The EagleCam, positioned about 30 feet from where the nest sat, remains unaffected and on, up 100 feet or so, and has captured the parent birds' return to surrounding branches more than once. Their appearance is a probable clue to what's next.

A number of factors likely will keep the eagle parents close, said Lori Naumann, the EagleCam manager and an information officer for the Nongame Wildlife Program of the Department of Natural Resources. For one, biology: Eagles are territorial and, as history has shown at the site of the EagleCam, the raptors often return and breed again.

Naumann said it's unlikely the eagles would produce another egg yet this season, given the short nesting season, but they have been spotted mating since Sunday's disaster.

"For them to be successful is unlikely," she said.

That they might attempt to produce another eaglet makes sense, knowing the instinct is so so ingrained in late winter-early spring, said one wildlife biologist.

"I would expect that this pair will stay in the area and try to rebuild in the same spot," said Mags Rheude of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Bloomington office.

Naumann said the female's loyalty to the site makes that idea near certainty. The current female displaced the original female four years ago.

"Eagles [in general] are much more attached to their territory than they are even to each other," she added, "which has been shown over the years by the only two females that have been here. There have been many males coming and going, not because that is the way eagles' behavior typically is. It is just how nature works."

The males have had territorial battles through the years, and perhaps some have been killed, she said.

Another factor keeping the pair close: The location is prime habitat, near the open water of the Mississippi River and steady food sources like fish and critters. The nest bole, the central area where eggs are laid and nurtured, was found with everything from fresh fish and a duck to the remains of turtles and squirrels.

Not by eagle standards.

The nest in the cottonwood viewed by thousands on the EagleCam was massive — and, like an iceberg, more than what met the eye online. It was about 8 feet in diameter, 6 feet deep and weighed an estimated 2,000 pounds. Some of that weight came from substantial ice buildup in the bole, discovered after the nest's violent fall, Naumann said. In retrospect, Naumann said she and some regular camera-watchers were surprised the nest, supported by a rotted branch that gave way, hadn't toppled sooner.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a typical bald eagle nest is 5 to 6 feet in diameter and 2 to 4 feet tall. Depending on supporting trees, nests can vary, too, from cylindrical to flat. The Cornell Lab said nests can take up to three months to build. In the local case, it was a nest built and worked on for 20 years.

The National Park Service claims the largest bald eagle nest on record was 10 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Another famous nest in Vermilion, Ohio, weighed more than 2 tons (4,000 pounds), was 12 feet top to bottom, and was used for 34 years before its tree was toppled by wind.

Rheude added that, in general, people aren't aware that bald eagles lead long lives of 20 to 30 years — and sometimes longer — giving the species plenty of time to try again. The nests, in some ways, are a barometer of that longevity, built up year after year by their returning tenants.

The EagleCam brings awareness to the mission of Nongame Wildlife Program staff, whose work extends beyond raptors to keep tabs on other wildlife species and sustaining projects like its bird cams and loon monitoring. All of it is partly funded by donations and support from the purchase of Critical Habitat license plates and the public's use of the Nongame Wildlife Tax Checkoff.

Naumann said the condolences and outpouring of support have been "overwhelming."

"My phone was blowing up as we were digging through the rubble," she added.

She said her first thought Sunday morning as she headed to the nest site was sympathy for the young students in various schools who were learning about raptors, their behavior — and even the brutal realities of nature. One of the two eggs broke several weeks ago.

Risks for wildlife are well-known and documented. Most eagle deaths are caused by lead poisoning after ingesting ammunition fragments in hunting-related gut piles and getting struck by vehicles while scavenging on roadkill. Two other eagle nests fell in the last week, one in Bloomington and the other in Lilydale.

Naumann said viewers can expect the camera to be trained on an eagle family again when the natural order of things plays out.

Wildlife Program officials are considering several alternate sites, she said. It wouldn't disturb current nesters but would want to make sure the nest is active before relocating.

"If we put up a camera in the fall, we have to know that [the nest] is active and that they are using it," she said.

For example, there is another nest west of the EagleCam site that's been regularly visited by eagles, but not to nest.

"[The eagle pair] have shown they are loyal to each other as well as the territory," Naumann said. "So it feels like they will stay together. I don't doubt that.

"Whether or not they build right in this area remains to be seen. We certainly hope so, and that is what all the fans are hoping, of course. We'll keep zooming the camera around, looking for them, watching for them. We'll just have to see."