For a dozen years, starting in the late 1980s, there were three Bald Eagles at Montezuma, two males and one female, who all stayed there year round. They nested as a trio and successfully fledged young several years in a row. If memory serves, only one of the males was ever observed copulating with the female, but all three shared in incubation and feeding the young. Both of the male birds had been hacked so it wasn't an issue of a young bird hanging around to help a parent.
There weren't a lot of bald eagles in 1987, could be that initially there wasn't another available female, but the bond persisted for over a decade even after other female eagles came to live on the refuge. Alicia On 5/9/2022 4:49 PM, Nancy Cusumano wrote: > There's a nest box in Hellgate, MT > https://www.facebook.com/Montana-Osprey-Cams-165072613556909 with a > similar story, two females, two nests, one male. > Iris, one of the females is an eldery mom but has raised many healthy > babies over the years. Her mate Louis is also mated to Star at another > nest a few miles away. He couplates with Iris and she usually lays a > clutch of eggs but Louis does not bring her fish, only to Star. This > forces Iris to leave her eggs to fish. The last couple years her eggs > were predated and she abandoned them. It's sad, but nature. Star and > Louis continue to raise chicks. > There's a lot of anthropomorphising about this and how people should > interfere. I disagree...and Dr. Erik Green of Montana Osprey Project, > who manages the nest and camera feels the same. But lots of drama out > in MT for sure. Dr Greene has some thoughts he posted recenlty about > why males are scarce and it boils down to climate change and poor > fishing. Check it out if interested. > > Always something to learn in the world of nature! > > Nancy > > On Mon, May 9, 2022 at 4:34 PM Candace E. Cornell <cec...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Orpheus is a serial polygamist—who knew Ospreys could have such a > colorful sex life? This is the third year the Ospreys at Salt > Point, Lansing, have been involved in a polygamous relationship. > Read about it at: > _https://www.lansingrec.com/images/Blog__387_One_bird_too_many.pdf_. > Luckily > the breeding pair was able to lay three lovely eggs before the > confusion started. > > When Osprey platforms are placed too close together, their mating > systems get perturbed. However, if the Ospreys chose to nest near > one another, such as on Rt. 5/20 (/Osprey Alley/) by Montezuma > National Wildlife Refuge, then the birds can live peacefully. > > Eyes to the sky! > Candace > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
