White-tailed eagles spend a year caring for injured chick

Two white-tailed eagles have taken a break from breeding to spend a year caring for their injured chick, leaving experts amazed.

The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather on the Isle of Mull.

Despite the chick’s sibling surviving the fall and leaving the nest last autumn, the injured bird’s story has been a little less smooth.

Now into its second year of life, the chick is relying on the help of its parents to stay fed and watered.

Dave Sexton, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds(RSPB) Mull Officer, said the behaviour from the parents was “quite extraordinary”.

“Normally chicks, when they fledge in the Autumn, take to the skies and head off.

“But this chick is still around for over a year now and it’s just amazing that it’s been looked after,” he said speaking to BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland Programme.

After the chick injured its wing, it was unable to fly for several week before making it back into the air in Autumn.

It was spotted in winter and again in spring this year by Mr Sexton, who was out doing a survey of nests at the time with local boat company Mull Charters.

He saw an adult bird fly to its nest with a fish, followed by the chick which he was surprised to see still begging for food.

The parents’ unusual and caring behaviour has meant they have put their breeding on hold this year while they look after their chick.

Mr Sexton said: “Quite often if eagles are injured, if a wing is broken that is normally it for that bird.

“But this one really has got the survival spirit and, with parents looking after it as well, we’re hopeful that it might go on and survive much longer.”

Mr Sexton says the RSPB are in “uncharted waters” after the discovery and they will be keeping a close eye on the bird.

“I’ve checked with as many white-tailed eagles experts as I can and we’re not finding any other examples of this anywhere else, so it seems to be new behaviour and we’re watching it very closely.”

Like many parents, Mr Sexton believes the adult white-tailed eagles will start to lose patience with the chick in the years ahead.

“They do a lot of scavenging so if it finds a dead deer or seal along the shore it will have a meal there and it will cope I think.

“Whether it’s able to hunt on its own is another matter,” he said.

The chick is able to stretch both wings out and soar, but can’t fly far at the moment.

Mr Sexton said it’s “sticking around” with its parents and they are “tolerating it”.

The chick is easily recognisable by its left wing which has a slight bend where the break happened.

Mr Sexton said he hopes the bird will survive through the winter.

“Whether we see it again, if it emerges next spring, well we’re just going to have to wait and see but fingers crossed.”