The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is celebrating 10 years of the EagleCam, a popular annual livestream of a bald eagle nest in Minnesota.

The first season of the DNR EagleCam began in January 2013, after the Nongame Wildlife Program installed a webcam in a tree next to an active bald eagle nest. The livestream has grown in popularity since then and now has thousands of followers watching from homes, workplaces, classrooms, waiting rooms and care facilities in all 50 states and at least 150 countries.

Fifteen chicks have successfully fledged from this nest in the last decade. Even before the camera was installed, DNR staff working in the area had discovered the nest and biologists have monitored the mating pairs in it since 2003. Currently, the breeding female is rebuilding the nest with a new mate. Her previous mate went missing last year, and the new male showed up over the summer. This female has been at the nest for three years and, with her mates, has laid seven eggs and raised five chicks to fledging.

The EagleCam goes live in November each year to show the daily repairs and upgrades the eagles make to their nest. The pair remains active at the nest each day and normally by mid-February have laid two or three eggs, which the adults incubate for about 35 days. Both adults incubate the eggs and care for the chicks.  

Once the chicks hatch, the camera zooms in closely to watch the delicate process of raising bald eagle chicks. Tune in to learn about eagles and the Nongame Wildlife Program, and to celebrate 10 years of the DNR EagleCam (mndnr.gov/eaglecam).