HHI Eagle Cam

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The nest on the Eagle cam is located on private property in an undisclosed area. Eagles can be quite sensitive to human activity while nesting and the nest tree is on private property. This is believed to be at least the 13th season for this pair of eagles. During the 2023-2024 nesting season, the eagles had three eggs with two eaglets fledging.

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In 2021 our Cam captivated thousands as our nest was host to a pair of Bald Eagles and their Eaglets.

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Reminder to Viewers:

Just as we experienced with Harriet and Mitch, we are viewing a wild eagle nest. While we hope that all eggs hatch and grow to be healthy and successful fledges each season, things like sibling rivalry, predators, illness, natural disasters as well as territorial disputes can affect wildlife. Nature may be difficult to watch.

About seeing the nest at night: We have an IR camera using infrared lighting that is imperceptible to the eagles. If you were to visit the nest site in person at night, it would look completely dark.

This Cam does not interfere or intervene and allows nature to take its course. This live stream is intended to educate the viewers by showing nature in an unguarded fashion. You will see nature at its best, and possibly its worst. You will see life being started and sustained, in very natural ways. It is nature at her finest.

Rules of the site: Keep your comments focused on the topic at hand. Be polite and remember the "Golden Rule." No spamming, baiting or trolling. Comments can be removed at the discretion of the moderators and Hilton Head Island Land Trust. If someone writes something you don't like, NEVER engage them. Content that falls under the following is subject to immediate removal: Profane, defamatory, offensive or violent language; attacks on specific groups or any comments meant to harass, threaten or abuse an individual; hateful or discriminatory comments; commercial solicitations; content determined to be inappropriate in poor taste, or otherwise contrary to the purposes of this community.

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Comments (53)

Bailey

Haven’t seen the eagle 🦅 🦅couple yet…

cclemens318

Respondendo a

Me too! This is very atypical behavior for them. Well before now, they should have constantly been at work fixing up the nest. It has to be ready before the mating/egg laying. Not much time left for them to get it all ready. Also, if they were renovating this nest, I would expect that the juvenile eagle and other critters would be chased off by the pair.

Editado

Meadow (MOD)

Respondendo a

Good evening, Carol. Yes, possibly the hurricanes or something has altered their schedule here. As you know, eagles don't just stop doing nestorations once nesting begins, but it is a "continuous work" throughout their entire nesting season with eggs/eaglets. All things considered, the nest is looking pretty good other than lack of rails which can always be added while Gracie is incubating and on. Once they start to get serious, grasses can easily be added, as well. If they had another nest, they most likely wouldn't be perched close to this nest, as Robin has seen when she checks.

Bottom line, is that we'll just have to wait and see what transpires, and we all might just be relieved and pleasantly surprised one day if all of a sudden they start to do their nestorations, even if late for them. It is what it is, 😉❤️🙏

nsiemms

Thank you for your help. Will it come up automatically when I visit the website again? I love watching these cams!

Meadow (MOD)

Respondendo a

Great to see that you found it, Nancy!! If you go to the top of any of the cams page where it says, "Raptor Cams and Nests", you will have to choose there, unless you keep a tab open like I do on my laptop, but it is still very easy to get to once you get the hang of it.

Yes, we're getting very close to our "Eagle and Owl" nesting seasons, so praying all goes well.

kimelizabeth

Is the nest currently active? I've checked the camera several times at different times of the day/evening for at least a week or so and have yet to see anything but an empty nest :(

Meadow (MOD)

Respondendo a

Hi, Kim. The good news is that Eagles George and Gracie are in fact doing just fine, usually seen perched close by. They normally don't nest until into December, so while they have not been frequenting their nest much, we have not missed any of their nesting. While yes, we probably should be seeing them do their "nestorations" right about now, we'll just have to see how everything goes. Maybe their scheduling is slightly off etc... They have nested here for over 13 seasons, so most likely they will return soon.

Robin Admin/MOD

We may experience some outages this afternoon as we work on connectivity of the cameras and streaming.

Robin Admin/MOD

14 de nov.

Hi everyone. A few people have asked about being able to change your display name and photo. There's now a drop down to the right above the comments section where you can log in, log out, and edit your name and photo. By default, all profiles are private at this time. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Meadow (MOD)

14 de nov.

Respondendo a

Great to see you here, Lawana, ❤️

Lawana

Respondendo a

Thank you Meadow! I'm happy to be here to watch the eagles and interact with everyone! 🦅

cclemens318

13 de nov.

I have followed this nest for years and compiled data which I have shared with this site monitor. Here is some additional timeline info SPECIFIC to this nest based on years of observations. It is not the same timeline as Florida nests.

For those who were on my email update list for years, yes, this is the same nest that now has a camera. However, as clearly stated, it is on private property and for the good of both the eagles and the property owners, the location remains unshared.

Hope this timeline helps you understand what happens. Carol C.

Eagles

I. General info on Eagles

a. Males are smaller than females weighing about 10 lbs. The females are about 14 lbs.

b. Wingspans: Male-about 6 feet; female 6.5 to 7 feet

c. Diet: fish, snakes, small mammals, other birds

d. Eagles do not migrate, but travel only as far as needed to find sufficient food

e. Often remain in their “territory” of 1 to 6 square miles if there is enough food

II. The Nest

a. Return to same nest each year (On HH, they return in the fall.)

b. Nest is made of interwoven sticks and lined with grass etc.

c. Average 4 – 6 feet in diameter and 2 – 4 feet deep

d. Placed in trees near the foraging area (water); nearly 80% of nests are in live pine trees, but others in live cypress trees or dead trees.

e. Start building/repairing nest about 1 – 3 months before breeding and this building is considered part of the nesting cycle

f. Normally repair/enlarge the nest up to 1 foot each year

III. Breeding and Egg laying

a. Aerial breeding takes place in November/December

b. Eggs are laid 5 to 10 days after mating (On HH eggs laid in December.)

c. Usually lay 1 – 3 eggs; eggs are about 3x2 inches and are off-white in color

d. Eggs are normally laid 1 per day and separated by 1 – 2 days

e. Eggs are incubated by both adults for about 5 weeks (On HH, eggs hatch sometime in January or very early February.)

IV. The young eagles

a. About 5 weeks after the eggs are laid, hatching occurs.

b. The young are born with fluffy down, so they look white. At about 10 days, the down is replaced by a darker one. Dark feathers develop at abut 24 days. Over the next 4-5 years, they develop the white head, white tail, etc.

c. Adults tear up fish and feed it to them. Young swallow the fish pieces whole. males do most of the fishing and often eat the head of the fish themselves and bring the rest to the female to feed the young.

d. The young remain in the nest about 10 – 12 weeks after hatching (On HH, they usually are in the nest until sometime in April.)

e. They take their first tentative flights at about 10 – 12 weeks (On HH, late March/sometime in April)

f. Even after their first flights, the young remain in the area around the nest for another 4 weeks and are still dependent on the adults for food. (On HH, this means they are around the nest until sometime in April or May.)

g. It takes 4 – 5 years for the youngsters to get their white head…an indication that they have reached sexual maturity.

V. The entire cycle takes about 7 months on HHI:

a. Eagles return to the nest and start to repair/build. (October/November)

b. Mating occurs (November/December)

c. Eggs laid (December)

d. Eggs hatch (Jan-early Feb)

e. Young in the nest (until about April)

f. First flight (March/April)

g. Leave nest (late April – early June)

VI. General info: a. Once they fledge, the young will spend the next 4 – 5 years maturing and looking for a good place to live. There is over a 50% mortality rate for young eagles in the first year. After that, their survival rate is good.

b. At 4 or 5 years of age they find a good spot to nest and find a mate. This is usually within 250 miles of where they were born. The first year, the nest is not usually productive, though.

VII. Sources: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/baldeagle/biology.html

https://www.eagles.org/what-we-do/educate/learn-about-%20%20%20eagles/bald-eaglets/#toggle-id-7

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_5/NWRS/Central_Zone/Montezuma/EagleFacts.pdf

cclemens318

Respondendo a

They stick with the same mate. However, if something happens to one of them, they will seek a replacement. In the many years I have followed this nest in person, by now they have been actively renovating the nest. I am concerned with the lack of consistent restoration reported this close to their normal mating and egg laying dates.

Normally, George and Gracie would be alert and get those other critters away from the nest, too.