Pittsburgh’s resident bald eagles have resumed their reality television careers.
Volunteers set up two video cameras Thursday morning in trees near the majestic birds’ nesting site in Hays, and the cameras already have begun streaming real-time images.
The video equipment is being provided for a second year by PixController, a security camera company in Murrysville. The state Game Commission had to approve placement of the cameras near the nest as an educational project under the direction of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Only one of the cameras can pan, tilt and zoom, and it will be the primary source for the video feed, said Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon Society. It has been positioned high in a nearby tree and can look directly into the nest.
A second camera, below the nest, will provide an alternative view, depending on where the adult eagles — and later their chicks — are.
Live images from a single video camera set up near the nest drew 3.5 million page views earlier this year. Online bird watchers got to see the eagle eggs hatch, the chicks being fed and the three eaglets learn to fly and eventually leave the nest.
The camera was removed in late summer after the young birds departed. The two new cameras have been placed in time for the 2015 breeding season, which will begin in mid-January.
During the last breeding season, the female eagle had laid three eggs in the Hays nest by Feb. 28. By April 3, all of the eggs had hatched.
The Audubon Society plans to expand its eagle-tracking efforts with images from a still camera near a second nest above the Allegheny River in Harmar.
“We are looking to set up a good vantage point outside of the 700-foot perimeter around the nest,” Audubon Society spokeswoman Rachel Handel said. “The vantage point will allow us to safely and regularly get still images.”
Lack of electric service nearby and unreliability of solar power make it difficult to position a permanent camera at the Harmar location. The Audubon Society last month closed a deal to acquire the 2.36 acres in Harmar near the Hulton Bridge where the second pair of eagles have built their nest. The purchase will allow the society to protect the tract from development.
The nonprofit organization bought the land with money from its operating budget and is now seeking donations to cover the $35,000 cost. A link to the fundraising effort is on the society’s website, www.aswp.org.
Mr. Bonner said there could be no doubt that the live streaming video from the eagles’ nest has an educational purpose. “There were all the questions, comments and observations that the general public had about what they were seeing,” he said. “Why did the birds get up and turn their eggs? How did they keep the chicks safe from predators?”
Visitors to the live feed saw activities usually hidden from view. “And it gave us an opportunity to help them interpret it for them,” Mr. Bonner said.
The information collected in 2015 will have broader scientific value as well since it can be compared with the data gathered earlier this year, he said.
Many school districts have contacted the Audubon Society seeking more information about eagles and with plans to include bird study in their curriculum, Ms. Handel said. The eagle is the U.S. national emblem, and its image is used on the Great Seal of the U.S. and on coins and currency as a symbol of freedom.
A link to the eagle cameras in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood is available at post-gazette.com/wildlifecams.
There also is a link on the Audubon Society website, aswp.org. Select “Birding,” then choose “Hays Bald Eagle Cam.”
First Published: December 18, 2014, 4:10 p.m.
Updated: December 19, 2014, 5:07 a.m.