American Culture Course: Mad about Baby Bald Eagles

Mama eagle keeps her eaglets warm.

I like to read Huffington Post because it links to many quirky news stories that tend to be overlooked by giant media outlets like CNN and MSNBC. Yesterday, I learned about the Decorah Eagles, which The Raptor Resource Project is broadcasting from Decorah, Iowa on ustream.tv.

By yesterday evening, news about the Decorah eagles had spread like wildfire! It seemed that everyone I ran into was watching the live feed of the nest. As a matter of fact, over 25 million viewers have visited the 24/7 live web feed!

Why all of the excitement?

The third and final egg in the nest was about to hatch at any moment. As a matter of fact, the final eaglet hatched yesterday in the late afternoon.

Papa eagle feeds his eaglets.

 Americans are enchanted by the American bald eagle. It is the national bird of this country. Media has used video of the soaring bald eagle to symbolize freedom. Also, the bald eagle almost went extinct during the 1970's due to the pesticide DDT so it is an environmental success story that there are more of these birds in the wild. However, the American bald eagle still remains a endangered species and is protected under American law.

Below is the live feed of the nest. Maybe you will luck out and see the mama or papa eagle feeding her/his little eaglets!


Video streaming by Ustream  Essential Vocabulary

to be mad about ~ to be crazy about; to be hugely popular to the point of obsession

quirky ~ odd in a pleasant or amusing way

to tend to be ~ likely to be; something so common it can be predicted

to overlook ~ to not notice; to pass over

raptor ~ a large bird of prey such as eagles, hawks, and falcons

to spread like wildfire ~ to move very quickly such as news, gossip, or disease

24/7 ~ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; non-stop

to hatch ~ to be born by coming out of an egg

eaglet ~ a young eagle

to soar ~ to glide in the air

pesticide ~ poisonous chemicals to kill pests like cockroaches or mice 

endangered species ~ an animal that is limited in numbers and may be close to extinction

to luck out ~ to have good timing; to get your way by chance