Sanctuary Gives Orphaned Chick To Male Bald Eagle Attempting To Hatch A Rock

A male eagle at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri was recently given a surprise after his caretakers noticed something peculiar.

The sanctuary took to Facebook to share that they’d discovered the eagle, Murphy, protecting a depression on the ground.

Murphy is a permanent resident at the rescue due to his inability to fly, but his keepers were surprised when they noticed he appeared to be nesting and sitting on a rock as if it were an egg!

Day in and day out, Murphy sat on the rock as if waiting for it to hatch. Eventually, his caretakers had an idea. What if they replaced the rock with a live chick that needed a foster parent? Would Murphy step in as father to the little bird? There was only one way to find out.

The sanctuary shared in a Facebook post that the first trial of introducing the chick went well. They said, “So far, so good, but the real test is coming soon!”

Just two days later, they were pleased to announce that Murphy fully accepted the eagle chick as his own.

The hungry chick clung to Murphy for food and comfort, and the eagle dad didn’t disappoint.

Under Murphy’s care, along with help from the sanctuary’s caretakers, the tiny eagle chick began to grow and seems to be thriving!

“Eaglet 23-126 is doing quite fine, as you can see here. Still begging for more food after gobbling down their morning meal!” the sanctuary shared in an update.

It’s really amazing to see an animal step up to foster another animal, but it’s even more incredible when that foster parent is a dad who’s never parented a baby before!

Way to go, Murphy.