Bald Eagle egg ready to hatch

Officials at the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville, North Carolina said they are anxiously waiting as a bald eagle’s egg may hatch soon. And they said the mother, Savannah, is also getting anxious.

"[She’s] kind of getting up, standing, looking at the eggs, moving them around a lot more," Julia Raddatz of the Raptor Center said.

The eagle laid two eggs in late January. Late Thursday, however, Savannah discarded one of the eggs from the nest.

But Raddatz said there is still a chance the other egg will hatch.

The gestation period is about 35 days, which means that egg could hatch at any moment.

"It's a once-a-year event for us, and Carolina Raptor Center is the only organization in North Carolina that's had captive bred [and] born bald eagles," Raptor Center Vice-President Jim Warren said.

Officials said that means national attention if the remaining eagle survives, which could spell increased donations and increased memberships for the non-profit recently hit by the economy's downturn.

"The more people that are interested in the birds, they may want to come out and see the birds which would bring in admission," Warren said.

And that, he said, will help volunteers continue their work of rehabilitating and hopefully hatching birds of prey.

Raptor Center officials also said one of their golden eagles just laid an egg last Sunday, also a rare sight for a bird in captivity.

For more information about the bald eagle and the Carolina Raptor Center, click here.