Raptor Resource Project

Raptor Resource Project We research birds, share the lives of raptors, and transform passion into knowledge and action.

We create, improve, and directly maintain over 40 nests and nest sites, provide training in nest site creation and management, and develop innovations in nest site management and viewing that bring people closer to the natural world. Our birdcams include:

Decorah EagleCam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/
Decorah North EagleCam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decor

ah-north-nest/
Mississippi Flyway: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/flyway-cam/
Great Spirit Bluff FalconCam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/gsb-falcons/
Xcel Energy cams:
https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/

Thank you, Cole!
12/17/2025

Thank you, Cole!

12/16/2025

Fierce from the start! Against the odds, TE3 thrived, proof of an eaglet's scrappy resilience and a mother's unwavering dedication.

Who’s that falcon? It’s Diana! We banded Diana at the Greysolon Plaza Building in Duluth, MN on May 27th of this year, a...
12/15/2025

Who’s that falcon? It’s Diana! We banded Diana at the Greysolon Plaza Building in Duluth, MN on May 27th of this year, and biologist Marc Behr spotted her on Presque Island in Erie, PA on October 3rd. Falcons from the Greysolon Plaza have been reported along the Mississippi River in Dubuque, IA and Nelson, WI; in Kaukauna, WI near Lake Michigan; on Presque Island just northwest of Erie, PA, and on Assateague Island off coastal Maryland: an astonishing 1,000+ miles away from Duluth.

If you'd like to learn more about where our peregrine falcons go, follow this link! https://www.raptorresource.org/2025/12/15/whos-that-falcon/

Thank you, Ella!
12/14/2025

Thank you, Ella!

Education. Conservation. Research! Carrying it forward to the next generation.
12/12/2025

Education. Conservation. Research! Carrying it forward to the next generation.

Thank you, Ana!
12/10/2025

Thank you, Ana!

12/09/2025

Our partner Explore.org is running a Top Live Cam Moments of 2025 Contest! Help us put Mrs. T and TE3 at the top of the list by following this link: https://explore.org/contest and clicking ‘Vote’ under ‘T3 fledges’. It’s legal to vote for your favorite eaglet/Supermom more than once, although you’ll have to refresh your browser to do so!

12/08/2025

Raptor Resource Project Christmas Cards: Trempealeau.

A Year with the Trempealeau Eagles: 2025 Season RecapWe're continuing our 2025 recaps with Trempealeau. The year began w...
12/07/2025

A Year with the Trempealeau Eagles: 2025 Season Recap

We're continuing our 2025 recaps with Trempealeau. The year began without surprises - Mr. T was attentive, Mrs. T laid three eggs, and both bald eagles actively tended their nest. After March 19, however, Mr. T began spending noticeably less time there. He disappeared entirely between March 27 and April 5, and when he finally returned, his visits were brief and infrequent. Mrs. T carried on alone, managing incubation, brooding, and provisioning of all three eaglets, who began hatching on April 11. We caught occasional glimpses of Mr. T, and sometimes heard him nearby, but his rare appearances often ended with him taking a fish from the nest rather than contributing one.

What was going on? We began to suspect that Mr. T might be attending another nest, and on April 20, our camera operators confirmed it. His second family was located on an island in the Mississippi River roughly 1,700 feet from the nest we were watching.

In territories where a male is tending more than one active nest, his provisioning effort is usually directed toward the nest that hatches first, even if the other nest contains viable eggs. Based on his behavior and later footage of the MN Island eaglets, it appears that Mr. T’s second nest began hatching in mid-to-late March, while the Trempealeau nest did not begin hatching until April 11.

Through it all, Mrs. T rose to the challenge. Under normal circumstances, all three eaglets might have survived. But several days of cold temperatures and pouring rain created conditions even her remarkable dedication could not overcome alone. Unable to brood and provision at the same time, she lost eaglets TE4 and TE5 on the same day we confirmed the existence of Mr. T’s second family. The remaining eaglet, TE3, thrived. She fledged on July 10 at 90 days of age and was later seen flying with her half-siblings before dispersing in late September. As of this report, Mr. T continues to attend two nests and two mates: Mrs. T and Mrs. MNI (aka Mrs. Minnesota Island).

As far as we know, Bald Eagles are usually monogamous; that is, they engage in a single, exclusive relationship for at least one breeding season and usually more. This situation raised so many questions! We don’t know why Mr. T’s ‘wives’ didn't engage in aggressive activity or why Mrs. T let Mr. T take fish from her nest to another nest. We don’t know why territorial, monogamous birds sometimes decide to form a triad. And we don’t know what influences polyandry versus polygyny, especially since eagles do both.

It’s only recently that we’ve deployed the technology for 24×7 monitoring of eagles, which happened right as their numbers began booming. Are eagles as flexible about mating choice as they are about food and landscapes? If so, we might start to see more triads, especially where eagles are crowded in close together, as they are here. Is this another resumption of an old behavior that might have occurred when eagles were more numerous? As we’ve written before, they are social during some periods of their lives: https://www.raptorresource.org/2023/12/07/bald-eagles-a-fission-fusion-species/. So. Many. Questions!

Watch live and learn more about them here:
https://www.raptorresource.org/trempealeau-eagles/

Thank you, Cate!
12/07/2025

Thank you, Cate!

New threats to the Endangered Species Act: https://www.raptorresource.org/2025/12/03/new-threats-to-the-endangered-speci...
12/05/2025

New threats to the Endangered Species Act: https://www.raptorresource.org/2025/12/03/new-threats-to-the-endangered-species-act/. Follow the link to learn and act.

We often get asked how to make a difference in the lives of the birds you watch and love. What can you do as someone who looks deeply into a wild place or family and sees something of yourself looking back? What can you do when environmental action seems hopeless and your voice is so obviously not being listened to?

You found a community with us at the Raptor Resource Project, or on explore.org, or with the Southwest Florida Eagles, or with Big Bear eagles Jackie and Shadow. Take the love and commitment you found online and look for the people in your neighborhood who share it. It might be a 'Friends of' group: the friends of a park, or a waterway, or a forest, or a tree. It might be a gardening or beautification group that connects people with the resources they need to plant for wildlife. It might be a sporting group - Pheasants Forever, Trout Unlimited, and the Izaak Walton League all come to mind - groups that understand how deeply habitat and species health are entwined. It could be an environmental justice group fighting for clean air and water for your community. It could be a wildlife rehabilitator that gives you the chance to get up close and personal with the animals you love.

I don't know what it looks like for you. But as the year comes to a close and we think about what we did and what we want to do, find the people in your community working for the environment and join them. One life, one planet, one place. We're all in this together.

We'd love to know about your local groups, so please feel welcome to share them!

12/03/2025

Thank you so much to everyone who made a donation yesterday! Every donation in any amount keeps cameras running, supports our field work, protects nests, and brings the lives of raptors into homes and classrooms around the world. If you'd like to take a deeper look at our field work in 2025, check out our banding report here: https://www.raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/2025BandingReport.pdf.

Today we're sharing Nestflix and news from the Decorah North Nest. It's been a busy few days in the Valley of the Norths! DNF and Mr. North have been covering a blanket of freshly fallen snow with new nesting materials, coping with a rush of late season migratory birds, and digging deeper into nest preparation. Will the two nest successfully this year? We don't know, but the signs are very promising!

If you'd like to see even more videos from the North Nest, check out our 2025 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeNR2ocnlCOdhhYhqtm9tT4OzYa_rKfM6

Decorah North

December 3, 2025: Dancing with sticks, nest testing, visitors - https://youtu.be/jvTBMTILwok?si=-2P-AdLIEKzngbO3
Look for scraping, stick tango, and visitors. I especially liked the beaky nibbles at 1:04, Mr. North getting under DNF's feathers at 1:30, and the scraping that opened the video.

Bald Eagle couples begin building or replenishing their nests in autumn, piling them high and deep with materials to insulate and cradle their eggs months later. They churn, dig, and probe with their powerful legs and sensitive beaks, loosening the nest’s substrate to form a soft, shallow depression or scrape in the lee of a large trunk or limb. Layer by layer, they build an egg cup on top of it, molding soft materials into the nest’s floor and carefully testing and refining the fit to ensure it is ready for eggs. Nest work strengthens their bond and will benefit the eggs they lay a few months from now.

December 3, 2025: Eagle convention in the valley, sub adults & juvies - https://youtu.be/h38JcFGHF_I?si=T1ZqZVQtBfFjaMWB
Our camera operators documented at least three subadults, two juveniles, and one adult eating and squabbling at the bank of the stream near the North's nest today. It's pretty common to see groups of bald eagles passing through in late November and early December. Juvenile and sub-adult eagles don't usually distress the Norths unless they get too close, but the Norths sometimes peal out a warning to let passers-by know that this location is taken!

December 1, 2025: Dancing With the Sticks: Mr. wins this round / explore.org - https://youtu.be/zrSMER6IA0s?si=0vDt5oqyCxG2syQ3. Dancing with sticks or Nest Capades? Mr. North and DNF have been very busy flying in the crib rails that form the outermost layer of the nest. Expect more work on the bowl now that snow has finally arrived.

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Decorah, IA

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+12763252662

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We create, improve, and directly maintain over 50 nests and nest sites, provide training in nest site creation and management, and develop innovations in nest site management and viewing that bring people closer to the natural world. To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.raptorresource.org.

Our birdcams include: Decorah EagleCam - ads-free! https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/ and https://explore.org/livecams/bald-eagles/decorah-eagles Great Spirit Bluff FalconCam - ads-free! https://explore.org/livecams/birds/peregrine-falcon-cam and https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/gsb-falcons/ Xcel Eagle, Peregrine, Owl, Kestrel, and Osprey cams: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/