Decorah Bald Eagles

Decorah "Dad", a wild male bald eagle as seen on live-streaming footage hosted by Ustream, 2014. Cameras above the nest are equipped with zooming and panning capabilities.
"D18", first eaglet born in 2014, peeps out from behind "Mom"; D18 was the 18th of the Decorah parents' offspring.[1]

The Decorah Bald Eagles (also known as Decorah Eagles or variations) is a website[2] featuring a live-streaming webcam trained on a bald eagle nest and family in Decorah, Iowa.[3] The Raptor Resource Project installed and runs the live stream for research purposes. It is one of more than a dozen eagle webcams across the United States.[4]

Filmed in real time, the parents can be seen delivering a variety of freshly caught prey, feeding the eaglets, and protecting them from predators and harsh weather. With the help of infrared lighting, the nest is viewable around the clock during the nesting season, which typically begins in January or February, with fledge in June.[5][6][7]

The Decorah Eagles became an Internet phenomenon and the most viewed live-stream of all time when the website reached 250 million views on Ustream in 2011, with roughly 2.4 million views per day.[8] Ustream began hosting the video feed in 2011, although the live-cam was initiated in 2007, and was used to provide footage for the PBS Nature documentary "American Eagle'" released in 2008. In May 2020 the eagles were featured in NOVA's documentary "Eagle Power".[9][10]

Viewers missed the 2013 season after the eagle couple built and moved to an alternate nest ("N2"). Cameras were installed in the new nest and caught the 2014 and 2015 filming seasons, when the couple selected it again.[11]

  1. ^ "EAGLE WATCH 2014: Growing Eaglets!".
  2. ^ "Decorah Eagles".
  3. ^ "Bald eagle 'nest cam:' Grab your popcorn and watch the show - Bluff Country News". www.bluffcountrynews.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  4. ^ "Eyes on Our Eagles". www.theattic.space=12 Mays 2020. 7 March 2020.
  5. ^ McLendon, Russell. "Eco-journalist". Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  6. ^ Ries, Amy (1 March 2012). "Raptor Resource Project Blog: What is infrared light, and why can't eagles see it?".
  7. ^ Allen St. John (2012-04-18). "The World's Most Popular Live Streaming Video: 200 Million Eagles Fans Can't Be Wrong". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  8. ^ Empson, Rip (13 May 2011). "TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Eagle Power". NOVA. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Decorah Eagles featured Wednesday on PBS Documentary". Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Decorah Eagles Cam Live Stream 2014: Where, How, When To Watch Baby Eaglets Hatch [VIDEO]". IBTimes. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.