Murphy is a male bald eagle who lives at a bird sanctuary in Missouri, USA. He is 31 years old, which is old for a bald eagle; they usually live for 20-30 years.
Back in March, a keeper noticed Murphy had carefully constructed a nest of leaves around a rock and was protecting it like an egg. He would screech at other birds who came near, and would sit on the rock to keep it warm. Keepers discussed swapping the rock for a real egg but eagle eggs but there were none. Also eagles often do not react kindly to other chicks. Murphy previously lived with two female eagles but none were interested in each other.
Then in late March a next with two eagle chicks was blown down by high winds and they were bought to the sanctuary. One chick did not survive and the other needed a foster parent urgently. Murphy had never raised a chick before. Some keepers were worried this would not work...
Baby chicks cannot be introduced immediately to adult eagles so at first the chick had to be in a protective cage in Murphy's enclosure while the two birds got used to each other. But at some point the cage would have to be removed...
On April 12th the sanctuary released a statement: IT'S HAPPENING!
"This morning Murphy got his chance to be a parent as the chick left the nest. Chopped food is being dropped in to the nest but it appears the chick is unable to climb back in to the nest to get to the food. When we checked back we found all the chopped food still in the nest and the chick still out of the nest. However Murphy's whole fish had been removed from the nest and baby had a full crop. The chick is not yet able to tear food which means MURPHY FED THE BABY!"
- what is a family?
- is this a family? explain your answer.
- Some people might argue Murphy should not have been given a chick; he is old, he is a male eagle, he has never raised a chick before, he might be dangerous... can you see both sides of the argument? How would you respond?
- Why didn't the keepers give the chick to an existing mother?
- Wat are the signs Murphy is going to be a good Dad?
- What can we learn from Murphy?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?
www.no-outsiders.com
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