Finding a young Bald Eagle on the ground

During our five days on Besnard Lake we checked 38 Bald Eagle nests. Twenty-nine of these had a resident pair of Bald Eagles. Sixteen of these nests had young.

One nest, on a small island, was in very poor shape, and we wondered if it was even an eagle nest. But we walked in to check below the nest, and to our surprise we found a young Bald Eagle on the ground under a small tree.

There was quite a bit of whitewash on the ground nearby indicatig the eaglet had been on the ground for a few days, and near the eaglet was the remains of a fish which had been brought in quite recently by one of the adults.

We were able to determine that the nest had fallen apart, possible in a strong wind, and the eaglet had fallen to the ground. The young one was being cared for on the ground by the adults.
We have seen a number of similar circumstances over the years, and have found that if the eaglet is left where it is the chances are excellent that it will be raised by the parents until it is ready to fly. Indeed, the parents usually continue to provide food for the young for some time after they are flying and until they are foraging on their own.