Eagle Who Thought Rock Was an Egg Finally Gets to Be a Dad

Many humans yearn to become parents, and it seems that some animals yearn for the same. One bald eagle wanted to become a parent so badly that he imprinted on an inanimate object. He was so affectionate and protective of the item that he even had to be moved to a separate enclosure.

The Eagle in Question

Murphy, the bald eagle that wanted to be a father so badly, is a resident of the World Bird Sanctuary located in Valley Park, Missouri. Since he was injured in a way that meant he could never fly again, Murphy has spent the majority of his 31 years at the sanctuary, and that’s where he made his nest. It was at the bottom of the enclosure, and staff at the place saw him becoming more and more protective as time passed. But why was he acting this way?

The staff was, suffice to say, shocked at his behavior. They had never seen such vicious protection of a nest; he would charge at anyone who came near and screech at the top of his lungs. However, the truth behind his actions saddened them all. He was protecting a rock! The “baby” he thought he was looking after was actually a vaguely egg-shaped rock.

A Miracle Came Through

One day, as luck would have it, Murphy, the eagle got the perfect chance to become a dad. A small baby eagle was brought into the sanctuary with an injury from falling from a nest. The staff thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime to give Murphy what he wanted.

To make sure Murphy would be a safe surrogate to the eaglet, they put the baby in a cage and put it into the enclousure with Murphy, while also removing the rock baby.

Murphy Becomes a Dad

After some good progress, they took away the cage and let the two bond! The young eaglet and Murphy imprinted on each other and Murphy forgot about the rock entirely and enjoyed spending time with the baby he thought had hatched from his careful parenting. He fed the little one fish, which he ripped up into small pieces from his own portion.

According to the sanctuary, the baby eagle was to be released into the wild in the summer when the time was right, giving Murphy plenty of time to enjoy parenthood before his baby quite literally left the nest.