Eaglet Wingercizing

Gaining Strength and Coordination

Another eagle nesting season will soon be winding down; it goes so fast. For eaglets, the time from hatching to fledging is around 10 to 12 weeks, and those days/weeks before fledging are some of the most fun to observe as they start gaining strength and coordination in their wings by wingercizing.

As they flap those wings, they get a little air at first, but soon with practice and strength, and on those windy days, they can really start catching some air above their nest as you can see from this image and video.

These two eaglets are very close to fledging, and they’ve been branching and wingercizing quite a bit, and soon they’ll be on their journey and joining the ever growing eagle population here in Illinois and the Midwest.

Did you know:

A pre-fledge milestone is an activity called branching when the eaglet takes short hops/flights to branches within the nest tree. The young eagles normally branch for up to 7-10 days before fledge, exercising theirs wings and legs, taking short flights to branches in the nest tree. At ten-to-twelve weeks of age, the eaglet is physically ready to fly. Most eaglets fledge around 12 weeks (Source: Audubon)

Many of these moments eventually find their way into the Fine Art Print Store, where a curated selection of wildlife and nature prints is available.

https://www.audubon.org/cbop/explore/birds