‘They’re funny at this age’: Eaglets born in nest on Fermilab property

The word “cute” may not spring to mind when seeing newly hatched bald eagles.

“Funny” or “fuzzy” perhaps.

Eagle enthusiasts are excitedly reporting sightings of the new young’uns throughout the Chicago area.

At Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, two eaglets made their debut in late March.

Photographer Tina Smith of St. Charles, a member of the board of the Fermilab Natural Areas nonprofit club, reported them March 30.

“They’re funny at this age. They bob around,” Smith said.

Smith started photographing wildlife at the laboratory about 15 years ago. The eagles showed up about eight years ago, she said.

She uses a 600mm telephoto lens to take her shots.

Beyond Fermilab, eaglets have also been reported again at Mooseheart, the private residential school near the Fox River between Batavia and North Aurora, and at an unspecified location in McHenry County, according to posts on the Daily Herald’s Suburban Wildlife Facebook page.

It takes a while for eaglets to become handsome creatures, including those white feathers that earned them the nickname “bald” (from the Old English “balde,” meaning white or shining). It takes four to five years for eaglets’ plumage to mature, according to the Cornell University Ornithology Laboratory.

The bald eagle was named the United States’ national bird in 2024. It has been part of the nation’s official Great Seal since 1782.

It was put on the list of endangered species when the Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973.

Several factors, notably the loss of habitat due to development and the use of the DDT insecticide, had caused the national population to drop to about 400 nesting pairs by 1963. DDT, which eagles ingested from poisoned fish and other prey, caused them to lay eggs with thin, weak shells that were easily breakable.

DDT was largely banned in the United States in 1972, and conservationists also began concerted efforts to aid the eagles’ reproduction.

As of 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there were at least 316,000 bald eagles in the lower 48 states. Alaska officials estimate there are about 30,000 in that state.

Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007.