This is a long video, but it was a long day (of getting pecked) for E16.

Every eagle & eaglet has a different and distinct personality, and every sibling group has a bit different dynamic. Almost all go through a period of sibling rivalry for food; some minor, and some tragic, but most somewhere in-between.

This nest has seen it to some degree every year, but this season is a bit different. E15 is either a big female, or E16 is a small male, or both, because the size difference for just three days apart considerable. And that makes things all the more difficult for little E16.

The parents job is to prepare these kids to survive on their own in the wild in just a few months, so they don’t intervene (and shouldn’t) because the young have to figure out how to fight for food, who to take on and who not to, and creative ways to be smarter and faster for the smaller males. Everything from the time they hatch until they leave for good is a lesson, and these parents are pros (even if it looks harsh to us soft humans sometimes).

E16 has already figured out to stay clear of E15 when it’s meal time, but E15 blocks him even when she is full. So E15 is going to have to be faster & smarted if he wants to survive (just as he will have to throughout life), and I have faith he will figure it out. I will admit that as much as I understand wildlife, I still route for the underdog, and sometimes I want to shake E15, and Mom and dad too. LOL