WESTMINSTER, Colo. — The real-life drama happening right now at this Colorado eagle’s nest is better than anything you’ll see on Netflix or any telenovela. You can click below for our previous stories, but here’s a recap.
This tale begins with a happy family, dubbed the “mother” and “father” eagles by the Standley Lake Regional Park’s incredible Facebook page. They had a nest full of eggs and a bright future ahead of them, but things took a turn on April 6, when a “floater” eagle attacked them.
>>> Watch the floater eagle attack in the video above.
Mom hasn’t been seen ever since, and it’s likely none of the eggs are viable. It’s possible that mom is nursing her wounds and keeping her distance, but during that time, the floater has swooped in … and an unexpected romance has blossomed at the Standley Lake eagle’s nest.
That romance is between the father eagle and the woman once dubbed the floater. We’ll let the Standley Lake Regional Park’s Facebook page explain what observers spotted on April 22.
“We saw a turn of events this morning when Dad and the new female spent time working on the nest together and copulated shortly after,” the post reads.
This … new relationship has prompted the park to rename our “floater” eagle “F420.” We know what you’re thinking, Colorado, but the “F” means “female” and the “420” refers to the year and month she was first spotted.
But, while F420 might want to stick around, dad might have other things in mind.
“Since Dad is potentially a bachelor, we might continue to see female eagles visit the territory. We will address future eagles similarly based on the month,” the April 27 Facebook post reads.
That’s right: our dad eagle might be a free man.
Before we go any further, we must clarify: in its Facebook posts, the Standley Lake Regional Park’s team of experts has clarified it isn’t odd behavior for eagles by any means, though it is dramatic by human standards.
And even though he might be a bachelor, the latest post from Standley Lake Regional Park shows our father eagle still has a soft spot for F420 … and some behavior that we can’t write about on this family website was captured multiple times on the live camera that observes the animals.
But here’s a PG look at what dad and F420 have been up to.
“Dad and 420 cultivate their relationship through nest building, roosting side-by-side …” the April 28 post reads before going into what follows.
Now it’s possible that F420 could lay eggs, but not necessarily likely. Here’s an explanation from Standley Lake Regional Park.
“Eagles are instinctually aware of the appropriate time to lay eggs, which is why we have historically seen the eagles consistently copulate and lay eggs roughly within the same weeks each year,” the April 28 Facebook post reads. “The eagles may have made an exception to the timeline because they are developing a bond.
“We do not know if they are capable of successfully mating at this time, so we will wait to see …”
The park clarified it’s awfully late in the season to reproduce, particularly because it’s hard to bring baby eagles into the world during the harsh prairie summer.
What will happen next? Stay tuned to “as the nest turns.”
And if quarantine has you wanting to watch the eagle camera, the park recommends doing so between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. as well as between 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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