Baby Bald Eagles Hatch in Miami-Dade – NBC 6 South Florida

A wild pair of bald eagles hatched two baby birds in Miami-Dade over the weekend.

The bald eagles — named Ron and Rita after Zoo Miami Wildlife Expert Ron Magill and his wife — built a nest last year that was destroyed in a storm.

They have since returned, this time to a more stable platform for their nest, and laid three eggs.

Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill built the artificial platform despite some experts telling him the eagles wouldn’t return.

Magill and his wife have been keeping a close eye on the nest via live steam, waiting for the eggs to hatch.

After months of waiting, the first egg hatched Saturday night and the second on Sunday morning.

“All of a sudden at 9:00, mom stood up and I see this squirmy alien-looking wet thing and it hatched,” said Magill. “We were jumping all over the house.”

The Magills are now patiently waiting for the third eaglet, but Ron says it’s unlikely all three will survive.

He says the baby eagles will likely fight over food, but “that’s nature.”

The Magills hope that in about three to four months, at least one eaglet will fly.

“If they’re able to fledge one chick to where it can fly away from that nest, that’s a huge success, because bald eagles average only about 50 percent success rate in fledging chicks.”

From the nest that was built last year, one of the hatched chicks was rescued and released into the wild after undergoing surgery.