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Footage captured from a boat off the Isle of Mull shows a “miracle” white-tailed eagle chick in flight, after it was nursed back to health by two unusually caring parents.<\/p>\n
In an unprecedented display of extended eagle parenting, the two white-tailed parents skipped this year’s breeding season to continue to tend to their year-old offspring. <\/p>\n
The youngster’s wing was broken when the nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather last year. <\/p>\n
The footage shows a bulge in the bird’s wing – apparently a healed broken bone.<\/p>\n
Mull\u2019s RSPB officer, Dave Sexton, who described the bird as a “miracle chick”, said: \u201cWe normally think of eagles as \u2018hard-wired\u2019 and unemotional but clearly there might be another side to their nature.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/0365\/live\/0d3adb40-392c-11ef-b27f-7170c0a4ebcd.jpg.webp\")
Martin Keivers<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe injured juvenile (left) is still being cared for by its parents <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
It is a story that had a stormy start, when the chick badly injured its left wing last July after its nest was blown down. <\/p>\n
The young, injured eagle finally took to the skies in the autumn, but Dave Sexton described its flight as \u201cwobbly\u201d. <\/p>\n
The new footage, captured by wildlife photographer Gary Jones, shows a visible lump in its wing – probably a healed broken bone. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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RSPB officer Dave spotted the juvenile this spring – alive and well and in a new nest in an area owned by North West Mull Community Woodland. <\/p>\n
The fully-grown chick was being fed fish by its parents, caring behaviour that the eagle expert described as \u201cunprecedented\u201d for the birds. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn 30 years of watching them, I\u2019ve never seen anything like it,” he said. <\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve also consulted with other eagle experts at home and abroad, and so far no-one else has reported this kind of extended parenting behaviour for an injured chick.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/429c\/live\/09249a40-392d-11ef-b27f-7170c0a4ebcd.jpg.webp\")
Ashley James<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nExperts think the visible bulge in the young eagle’s wing is a healed broken bone <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
White-tailed eagles are the UK’s largest birds of prey – with wingspans that can reach 2.4m. Their chicks normally hatch in April and are fed in the nest until they fledge in July. By October, most young will disperse and start to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wander far and wide until they\u2019re five years old and start to look for a mate and a territory of their own,\u201d Dave explained. \u201cIf an immature bird was to reappear near its nesting parents or any other pair the following year, it would likely be aggressively chased away. That\u2019s why this is so exceptional.<\/p>\n
For now, Dave said, he and other local eagle-watchers are enjoying watching this \u201cunusual\u201d family doing what they want to do and caring for their youngster.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019d still describe its flight as \u2018wonky\u2019 at best,” he told BBC News. “But you have to admire its will to survive against the odds \u2013 with a little helping hand from mum and dad. <\/p>\n
\u201cI loved white-tailed eagles before,\u201d he added. \u201cNow I think I love them just a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![\"Iain](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/e0da\/live\/31744630-392d-11ef-bbe0-29f79e992ddd.jpg.webp\")
Iain Erskine<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA white-tailed eagle in flight<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n