Bald eagles adopt baby hawk in California nest

BAY AREA, Calif. (KRCR) — An incredible phenomenon has happened again in nature -- another rare occurrence of a blended raptor family in California.

A baby red-tailed hawk has been seen in a bald eagles' nest in the Bay Area, being cared for by a pair of eagles. The eagles appeared to adopt the hawklet after first bringing it to its nest as likely prey.

A photographer captured the incredible moment that the eagle brought a hawklet into its own nest on May 20. The images were shared on the Nor Cal Birding Facebook page. News of the remarkable event went viral on social media, with the eagle reportedly raiding the hawk's nest again, taking a second hawklet, but it was not captured on camera.

Following the occurrence, Sacramento-based professional wildlife photographer, Jann Nichols, a contributing editor on the Friends of the Redding Eagles (FORE) Facebook page, began making weekly trips to the nest. Her incredible captures show how the bald eagles appeared to be feeding and caring for the two hawklets, along with their own eaglet.

British Columbia-based Eagle Biologist David Hancock has been examining the Bay Area case. Much of his work focuses on bald eagle adaptations to urban environments. He has opened a study into the most recent marvel.

I am wanting to bring together the complete story of bald eagle and red-tailed hawk relations," Hancock said. "This is now a real accepted phenomena, and it needs to be better documented in the scientific literature," he said.

Hancock has contributed to the documenting of three other occurrences of this type of phenomena: when an eagle mistakes prey for its own young -- then nurtures and feeds it -- instead of eating it. Three such previous cases have been studied by Hancock: two in British Columbia and one in Redding, California.

Meanwhile, Nichols continues to document the interactions between the two adult eagles, eaglet and hawklet. Images and video are being shared on the FORE page.

Nichols observed that the eaglet and hawklet seemed to be developing a sibling-type bond, she said, similar to that between baby eagles and their eaglet siblings.

It's something which had not been documented in other occurrences, according to FORE founder Terri Lhuillier.

Then, on June 5, it was reported that the smaller of the two hawklets perished in the nest, Lhuillier said.

"At that point the deceased hawklet would become food for the eagles, as described by a rancher who saw the male eagle defeathering and consuming the hawklet," Lhuillier added.

"Nichols shared numerous photos and videos documenting the adult bald eagles feeding the hawklets and accepting them as their own," Lhuillier said, "and showing the unprecedented sibling bond between the eaglet and larger hawklet."

On Saturday, June 17, another incredible shot was captured by Nichols, when she said the hawk appeared to fall from the nest, but was rescued by the surrogate eagle mother.

"[The hawklet] appears unharmed and happy to be back in the nest," Nichols wrote on Facebook.

The eaglet has been named Lola and the hawklet is being called Tuffy 2 (as to not be confused with the original Tuffy in another eagle-hawklet occurrence out of Redding). The specific nest location in the Bay Area has not been disclosed to the public for the safety of the birds.

Visit Jann Nichols Photography on Facebook to follow Nichols' updates on the remarkable story.