We are now officially on Hatch Watch! The eggs typically hatch between 3439 days of incubation and today Dec 10th, egg #1 is 32 days & Egg #2 is at 29 days. This means that on Friday Dec. 13th, egg #1 will be at 35 days so we will be looking for that external pip! Eggciting days ahead!

The video shows four incubation switches with M15 & F23 and zooming on the eggs looking for that first pip. So what is a pip and what does it look like?

A pip is the external breaking of the outer eggshell by the chick. There are two types of pips: internal & external. The internal pip is when the embryo pieces the air sac and breathe by its lungs for the first time. This internal pip takes place several days before the external pip (the breaking of the eggshell) is seen.

What to expect in the hatching process:

Close to hatch time, eaglet repositions itself inside the egg, bringing its beak close to the air space at the end of the egg. It will absorb remaining yolk into its abdomen & begin absorbing remaining fluid in the egg. The chick will move inside the egg into a tuck position beak between its body and its wing which increases pipping efficiency.

The embryo pierces air space and will breathe by its lungs for the first time. The hatchling has a calcified egg tooth (falls off shortly after hatching) located on its upper beak to break through (pip) the shell. The hatchling also has an enlarged muscle (pipping muscle) used to brace the head as the egg tooth scrapes across the shell while it rotates in a counterclockwise direction using its legs eventually breaking a small hole in the shell (pip, sometimes referred to as a ‘star pip’).

Prior to beginning to hatch the young bird absorbs all of the remaining yolk. The yolk is fatrich and provides the chick with much needed energy. The digestion of this fat also provides a source of metabolic water (water created as a byproduct of the breakdown of fat).

During the last 23 days before hatching, the eagle parents can hear & feel the activity inside the egg & will watch the egg closely. Once the hatchling has begun to breathe, it might make soft calls that the adults can hear. The adult will spend less time incubating & will be listening closely to the eggs!

As for our parents, they will hear the chick chirping and feel it moving inside the shell, so if the incubating parent is frequently moving off the eggs or is looking down at the eggs a lot, that would indicate that they feel or hear something. Biologists believe that eagle parents do not normally assist the eaglet during the hatching process even if the chick is having trouble breaking free. The hatching process is very labor intensive for the chick it works hard on breaking free! It is that joyous moment that we all are looking forward too for both eggs this season! Thank you for watching!

Egg #1 laid Nov 8th at 2:38pm
Egg #2 laid Nov 11th at 6:15pm

Here is an amazing video of a chicken embryo developing and hatching! It is the same process for an eaglet!
"Chicken Embroyo Developement" by Poultry Hub Austraila!
   • Chicken Embryo Development  

To see the highlights below, please click on the timestamps to advance to that portion of the video.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 M15 on attic at night & F23 on nest
00:29 M15 drops to nest 1st incubation switch of the day
02:00 F23 flies to CSS church side snag
03:22 M15 up preening zoom on eggs
04:54 2nd Incubation switch M15 flies off & F23 to nest
05:27 Cam 1 & 360 M15 leaving nest
06:23 Zoom on eggs
07:37 Beautiful sunrise 360 cam F23 to nest
08:40 F23 up zoom on eggs
10:42 Pond cam 3rd incubation switch M15 with nesting F23 to front snag
11:22 Cam 1 M15 with nesting
12:44 F23 on front snag
12:53 4th incubation switch M15 to attic F23 on upper branch
13:53 Zoom on egg searching for a pip
16:29 F23 to eggs
17:24 Zoom on eggs

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

Thank you SWFEC , hosted by Dick Pritchett Real Estate, for allowing us the opportunity to view these amazing eagles.
#southwestfloridaeaglecam #baldeagles

SWFEC main webpage: https://dickpritchettrealestate.com/

Cam 1: https://dickpritchettrealestate.com/s...

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Cam 3 (360) https://dickpritchettrealestate.com/s...

Pond Cam https://dickpritchettrealestate.com/s...