Black Eagles lay first egg for 2015

One of the biggest attractions at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical gardens is the Black Eagles and they have been there since the gardens opened its doors for the first time.

The couple recently made news when the female laid an egg in their nest on 11 April .

Their previous egg hatched and turned into a beautiful young fledgling called Jono that left the nest on 10 September last year.

Click on this link to read more about Jono’s story.

Black Eagle Project chairperson Gerald Draper said, “I was surprised when we noticed that the eagles had laid their first egg at around 7 pm.”

He explained that laying occurs toward the end of April when the female is spending long periods of time on the nest, arranging only green, leafy sprays and she will sit on the nest for long periods of time when it’s time for laying.

“Usually two creamy white eggs are laid four days apart, followed by a 45-day incubation period and both the female and male share the incubation period with the female that sits on the egg 70 per cent of the time and the male sits on the egg 30 per cent of the time. During incubation, the adult birds will eat away from the nest so as not to damage the eggs.”

Spokesperson at the gardens Ronny Tshabalala said, “It was the perfect time for the eagles to lay an egg as they laid an egg last year around the same time. Considering their age, it is actually a miracle that they are still laying eggs. And it is positive for us because the offspring should return to the place where they were born a couple of years ago.”

Tshabalala concluded,“People are welcome to visit the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens to come and take a look at the interesting Black Eagles.”

Details: www.blackeagles.co.za