Beauty and the Beak

Beauty and the Beak — page 3 — Even before the eagle chick could see she started to take bits of fish from her parents beaks into her beak Soon her wings became longer and stronger In one month she could see stand on her own and begin to tear food with her own beak By six weeks she was almost as big as her parents with a wingspan of more than six feet

Beauty and the Beak — page 4 — Bit by bit her body became covered with the thousands of feathers she would need to fly and keep warm She used her beak to preen her feathers every day She cleaned and smoothed them shifted them to stay warm or Cool off and waterproofed them with oil from a gland near her tail

Beauty and the Beak — page 5 — By early summer the young eagle watched while other eagles soared and swooped over the river One day she was hopping and flapping around the nest when a sudden gust of wind lifted her into the air For a moment she was flying All summer she took longer and longer flights In time she learned to hunt fish from the river but when winter came again the river surface froze Now the eagle had to search far from home to find food and open water that was not frozen

Beauty and the Beak — page 6 — She flew thousands of miles soaring over mountains and valleys cities and farms always on the lookout for new sources of food Older and stronger eagles sometimes chased or attacked her if she flew through their territory The older eagle would lock talons with her Then the two birds would spin like a helicopter down through the sky until she let go and flew away

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