WASHINGTON — An eaglet under the protection of the Earth Conservation Corps started hatching Friday morning in Southeast D.C.
Two people watching the live eagle camera noticed the egg begin hatching just after 8:30 a.m. Friday, the nonprofit organization said.
The camera watches over Liberty, a female eagle, and Justice, a male eagle, who have been nesting in an oak tree near the D.C. Police Department Training Academy in Southeast since 2004.
Liberty laid the egg on Feb. 7.
It can take up to 48 hours for an eaglet to fully break through the shell, the ECC said. The full hatching process will take up to mid-March.
Liberty and Justice also laid an egg on Feb. 11, which is expected to begin hatching Sunday.
The eaglet and the egg are being called ECC3 and ECC4 respectively.
Any classroom that helps the ECC with the Citizen Science Eagle Database — where the ECC documents how long Liberty and Justice spend time incubating the eggs — will get to help name the eaglets in mid-March. Interested participants can email staff member Tommy Lawrence.
Since 2004, Liberty and Justice have had one or two eggs per year. Last year, Liberty laid two eggs, one of which hatched on March 15. Over 4,000 people voted on the name Spirit, the ECC said.
