There含羞草研究社檚 some egg-citing news for a pair of bald eagle parents in White Rock.

Both of their eggs hatched sometime between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning, with two wobbly, fluffy eaglets occasionally visible on the 24/7 live streaming nest camera whenever their parents switch nest duties or feed them.

It takes four days for the eaglets to hatch, or to go through what is called the pipping process, according to Hancock Wildlife Foundation founder David Hancock, whose foundation builds nests and sets up cameras to observe some of the Lower Mainland含羞草研究社檚 fine-feathered friends.

含羞草研究社淧ipping is the action of breaking through from when they含羞草研究社檙e sealed inside 含羞草研究社� breaking a hole through the inside membrane and calcium,含羞草研究社� he said.

The baby eaglets have a small, but sharp, bit of calcium on the top of their beak at the end, called an egg tooth, Hancock explained.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 ever so small but it含羞草研究社檚 sharp! They scratch with that on the inside of the shell From the moment of getting air into the bird it just gets stronger and stronger and moves more vigorously含羞草研究社� it starts to rotate 360 degrees around the egg, scratching the whole way. It含羞草研究社檚 literally a cement womb it has to get out of, then all of a sudden, the whole top third of shell pops off.含羞草研究社�

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When the eaglet first breaks through the shell, the direct access to oxygen changes the rate of energy in all the cells and that enables the chick to start working its way out of the shell, Hancock said.

含羞草研究社淭his has been going on for millions of years 含羞草研究社� dinosaurs did the same thing to get out of their shells, reptiles all do the same, birds are all the same. They含羞草研究社檒l carve their way all the way around the inside to get out, and that takes four days.含羞草研究社�

Bald eagle eggs usually take 37 days to hatch, but, Hancock noted, the parents don含羞草研究社檛 always start to actively incubate each egg as soon as its laid, meaning the second egg could hatch closer to the same time as the first (even though they were laid three days apart.)

But, Hancock noted, the parents don含羞草研究社檛 always start to actively incubate each egg as soon as its laid, meaning the second egg could hatch closer to the same time as the first.

The South Surrey eagle eggs were laid on March 24 and 27, so they should also start hatching soon, with expecting parents Brit and Rey waiting patiently.

View all of the Hancock Wildlife Foundations live streaming cameras at

tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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