You can watch a bald eagle being hatched via a live webcam

Stop what you’re doing right now, and watch a bald eagle being hatched. Because even in times as politically divisive as these, nothing could possibly be more American than a live webcast of our national bird (and national animal, for that matter) being born. Thanks to a webcam complete with two distinct viewing angles trained on a pair bald eagles appropriately named “Mr. President” and “The First Lady,” we’ll be able to watch the magic of childbirth — virtually, of course.

As of press time, the live stream (which is running 24 hours a day on dceaglecam.eagles.org), shows just one of the eagles perched atop a nest, with no signs yet of a baby eagle being brought into the world. The chick was expected to make its appearance as early as Tuesday, so when we say that things could happen any minute now, we really do mean it.

That said, the nature of these “things” are still a bit nebulous. As the American Eagle Foundation notes on its website, “This is a wild eagle nest and anything can happen.” And although the hopes is for “”two healthy juvenile eagles [to] end up fledging from the nest this summer, things like sibling rivalry, predators, and natural disaster can affect this eagle family and may be difficult to watch.” So proceed with caution, friends. This might be more of a soap opera than a feel-good film.

But if you want to somehow get in on the action, you can hashtag #dceaglecam on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with your predictions on when the first of the two eggs will hatch.

The addition to Mr. President and The First Lady’s family is certainly an exciting one, but happily, bald eagles are in nowhere near as much danger as they were a few decades ago. Thanks to extensive conservation efforts, the species is no longer considered endangered, and we can enjoy our majestic national mascots for quite a while longer.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1Mqfsvb
Lulu Chang