Anticipating visits and “nestorations” by bald eagle couples at the beginning of their breeding season, two webcams have gone live and are ready for the action.

The Pittsburgh bald eagle webcam in Pittsburgh’s Hays section has been live all year with sporadic reports and a recent uptick of the birds’ visits. The livestream can be viewed on the websites of the two major sponsors, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and CSE Corp. of Murrysville. A webcam on an eagle nest above Route 28 in Harmar was discontinued in 2019 because it was dangerous for the webcam installation crew to access.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission webcam in Hanover near Codorus State Park in York County started streaming live this week. Additionally, the commission is planning a second webcam on another bald eagle nest still to be announced.

The commission cam is sponsored by HDOnTap and Comcast Business. The past two seasons have been tough ones for the Hanover eagles with none of their chicks hatching, according to the commission. But it’s a new breeding season in an area where the commission webcam has recorded nesting success since 2015.

The Pittsburgh Hays nest webcam is entering its eighth year, with Pittsburgh’s premier bald eagle couple successfully raising 12 birds since they started nesting. These urban eagles are the first pair to successfully breed within the city limits in more than 150 years.

“We have a strong focus this year to reach out to the educational institutions needing quality content for remote learning due to covid-19,” said Bill Powers, director of engineering for CSE Corp.

Audubon has online lesson plans ready for downloading. Additionally, CSE and Audubon have a “well-educated group of live chat moderators to answer questions and remotely move the camera for the viewers,” Powers said.

For the Pittsburgh birds and other area eagles, the breeding season will begin in early January with pairs ramping up courtship rituals such as locking talons in downward spiraling flight, a phenomenon largely missed by the public. However, most viewers will see the birds bringing sticks to build their nests up and spending more time in the nest area, Audubon spokeswoman Rachel Handel said.

“The birds will also bring soft bedding material into the nest close to the time that eggs are laid, usually in mid-February,” she said. Typically, the eggs hatch in March.

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