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Baby Eagles in Washington, DC Get Their Names
This is What’s Trending Today:
Freedom and Liberty are not just important ideas in the United States. They are the names of two baby bald eagles in Washington, D.C.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. The birds are not actually bald, as the name suggests. They have white feathers covering their head.
Bald eagles with their young at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, March 2016. (Credit: National Eagle Foundation)
The Washington, D.C. live Bald Eagle Cam launched in February. Since then, people from 100 countries have watched the website’s live stream of the birds over 35 million times.
The names, Freedom and Liberty, were chosen after 30,000 suggestions were posted on social media.
One person said he voted for the names Stars and Stripes.
Bald Eagle Cam viewers have seen the babies break open their eggs and grow under the care and supervision of their parents. The adults are named Mr. President and The First Lady.
The baby eagles are about six weeks old. They were named at a ceremony earlier this week in the U.S. National Arboretum.
The babies are expected to leave their home, high on a Tulip Poplar tree, sometime in June, when they will be about 12 weeks old.
The American Eagle Foundation helped to set up the webcam last winter. Students from two universities set up the cameras and connected electrical cables to batteries that are powered by the sun’s energy.
The president of the foundation says he hopes the eaglets will grow up, find a partner and return to set up their own nest. He hopes they will raise their babies in Washington, D.C.
On social media, people have been posting comments about the baby birds since they were born.
One person said her father watches the eaglets every day.
Another said, “So awesome to watch them close-up and live!”
Many people said they were “obsessed” with watching the baby eagles.
And That’s What’s Trending Today.
I’m Bruce Alpert.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Have you seen the baby eagles yet? What do you think of them? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
awesome – adj. causing feelings of fear and wonder : causing feelings of awe
obsess– v. to be the only person or thing that someone thinks or talks about
arboretum – n. a place where trees and plants are grown in order to be studied or seen by the public
bald – adj. having no hair or very little hair on the head