At first, tiny sea eagle chick SE38 struggled to eat even when the food was right in front of its beak. Its mother, Lady, had a morsel ready and leaned toward the younger chick, but instead of eagerly reaching for it, SE38 hesitated, ducked away or lowered its head.
For anyone who has been watching the Sydney Olympic Park nest lately, the hesitation was painfully familiar.
Its sibling, SE37, has become the more dominant chick during feedings, and repeated sibling pecking has made some recent meals especially difficult for SE38. Now, even when the approaching beak belongs to Lady and carries food instead of a bonk, the younger chick appears hesitant.
But Lady keeps offering. Again. And again. And eventually, something began to change.
Video recorded and shared by SK Hideaways on YouTube.
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Sea Eagle Chick SE38 Struggles To Eat As Lady Keeps Trying
The feeding begins with the older chick, SE37, already looking much more comfortable around the food. When Lady offers a bite, SE37 responds quickly. For SE38, it is a very different story.
The younger sea eagle chick appears cautious whenever a beak moves in its direction. Even Lady’s food offerings can trigger a quick duck or retreat instead of the eager reach everyone watching would hope to see. It makes for an uncomfortable scene.
Lady does not stop feeding SE37, nor does she intervene in the sibling hierarchy the way a human parent might. These are wild birds following behaviors that have developed over countless generations.
What Lady does do is continue giving SE38 chances.
She brings food toward the little chick’s beak, waits, tries again and keeps presenting bites whenever an opportunity opens. Slowly, those opportunities began to matter.
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One Bite Changes The Feeding
Eventually, SE38 takes one. Then another. The change is not dramatic at first. There is no instant transformation from a hesitant chick into the boldest eaglet in the nest. Instead, confidence seems to return bite by bite.
During the feeding, SE38 began responding more quickly when Lady offered food. The little head came up. The beak reached forward. Bites the chick had hesitated to take only moments earlier suddenly began disappearing.
For those who have been anxiously watching the younger sea eagle chick struggle to eat during feedings, every successful bite feels enormous. And Lady keeps going. What began as a feeding dominated by hesitation gradually became something much more reassuring: SE38 was eating.
Why SE37 And SE38 Are Competing For Food
SE37 and SE38 hatched less than 25 hours apart, with SE37 arriving first on August 13 and SE38 following on August 14. Despite that relatively small gap, SE37 has become the more assertive sibling during recent feedings.
Sibling rivalry is documented in White-bellied Sea-Eagles. A published study of the species notes that sibling rivalry and even siblicide can occur, although the researchers did not observe it in the two-chick brood they followed. In that nest, the female distributed food between both chicks and both ultimately fledged.
That distinction matters when watching SE37. It is tempting to assign human motives to what happens in the nest, especially when one fluffy chick repeatedly pecks another. But SE37 is not being “mean” in the human sense.
Food competition between nestlings is instinctive behavior. That does not make the scenes easier to watch. It simply changes how we understand them.
Then SE38 Shows A Little Spunk
Once some food finally makes its way into SE38, viewers get another encouraging sign. The chick that had spent so much of the feeding ducking away suddenly has enough confidence to direct a few little bonks toward SE37.
And this time? SE37 does not immediately respond in kind.
It is a small moment, but an interesting one. It does not mean the sibling hierarchy has disappeared, and it certainly does not guarantee that future feedings will be easy. SE37 remains the more dominant chick at this stage.
But SE38 is clearly still engaged. The younger eaglet is eating, reacting to its sibling and showing that familiar spark underneath all that white fluff. After such a difficult beginning to the meal, seeing that little head come back up carries a lot more weight than it normally would.
Lady Keeps Finding Opportunities For SE38
Perhaps the most striking part of the feeding is not one dramatic moment at all. It is the repetition. SE38 hesitates. Lady offers again. SE38 misses an opportunity. Lady finds another. A bite finally disappears. Then another chance comes.
Calling it “encouragement” gives the scene a human emotional interpretation that we cannot prove. What the camera can show us is persistence: Lady continues presenting food to SE38 instead of simply ending the effort after the first few unsuccessful attempts.
And on this occasion, that persistence pays off. By the later part of the feeding, the little chick that had seemed afraid to reach toward an approaching beak is successfully taking food. For a nest that has produced some very difficult moments for viewers lately, that is worth watching all the way to the end.
A Hard Part Of Watching Wild Sea Eagles Grow Up
Nest cameras give us extraordinary access to wild lives, but they do not promise that everything we see will be comfortable.
White-bellied Sea-Eagles eat fish and other aquatic animals, raise chicks high above the ground and face the same competition, uncertainty and survival pressures they experienced long before a camera ever pointed toward the nest. The species commonly feeds on aquatic prey including fish and pairs use large stick nests through successive breeding seasons.
The camera simply allows us to witness that life much more closely. Sometimes that means watching two tiny siblings asleep against each other. Sometimes it means watching them compete.
And sometimes it means spending an entire feeding hoping one small chick will lift its head just one more time.
On August 26, SE38 did.
Then it took the bite.
And another.
For now, that is the moment worth holding onto.
EagleCAM / BirdLife Australia Southern NSW makes this live cam experience possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is SE38 hesitant to eat?
During recent feedings, SE37 has been the more dominant sibling and has repeatedly pecked or “bonked” SE38. In the August 26 feeding, SE38 appeared hesitant even when Lady approached with food. We cannot know exactly what the chick is feeling, but the behavior visible on camera shows clear hesitation around an approaching beak.
Is SE37 hurting SE38 because it is being mean?
There is no reason to interpret SE37’s behavior using human ideas such as meanness or cruelty. Sibling rivalry is documented in White-bellied Sea-Eagles and can involve competition over food.
Did SE38 eventually eat?
Yes. Lady repeatedly offered food, and SE38 eventually began accepting bites more confidently. The younger chick got a good meal during the feeding featured in the video.
What does “bonking” mean in eagle nests?
“Bonking” is an informal term commonly used by nest-cam viewers for pecking or striking between eagle chicks. It can be part of sibling competition and the establishment of dominance within a brood.
How far apart did SE37 and SE38 hatch?
SE37 and SE38 hatched less than 25 hours apart. SE37 was first seen completely out of the shell early on August 13, followed by SE38 early on August 14.