Closer webcam helps expose secret lives of Harmar eagles

It was long suspected that the Harmar eagles were exceptionally tough birds.

After all, they jousted with a pair of red-tailed hawks six years ago to steal their nest in prime real estate — the largest tree, a 130-foot-plus sycamore, on a hill above the Allegheny River and Route 28.

The formerly endangered raptors continue to live up to their swagger by pilfering sticks from a nearby red-tailed hawk nest and depositing them in their own aerie.

It's not known if they are the same hapless hawks that ceded to the eagles' apparent dominance, year after year.

It's part of the secret life of the Harmar bald eagles, which now is exposed with a closer webcam and a swelling fan base on the ground watching the birds while the birds watch the watchers.

Although the birds have been featured on a live webcam since the 2014 nesting season, the views were distant and details of their lives not as accessible.

"People are going to notice amusing and interesting behaviors," said Brian Shema, conservation director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Although their nest is not within Pittsburgh's city limits, the Harmar nest is only about 6 miles away and in a busy area, just like the more famous eagle pair in Pittsburgh's Hays neighborhood.

Drama at Harmar nest

It's no surprise that eagles steal things. But, like almost everywhere else in the digital age, the Harmar birds are on webcam and humans with cameras are capturing proof of the thievery.

"The red-tailed hawks have these nice sticks in their nest, and eagles are bigger birds so they steal the sticks," said Patricia Barber, an endangered-species biologist with the state Game Commission.

Bald eagles, when close enough, will steal fish from osprey and food from other birds.

More eagle altercations with red-tailed hawks and other raptors will only increase as the eagle population continues to grow, she said.

"Those Harmar eagles chased those red-taileds away at least for three years," Barber said. "They drive them off."

But those hawks still live in eagle territory. They were seen flying over the Harmar nest during the closer reinstallation of the Harmar webcam late last year, according to Shema.

And being the biggest is no guarantee against attack in the world of raptors.

A young red-tailed hawk took what looks to be a swipe at the two Harmar eagles perched in their nest last month.

"Part of the reason mobbing birds get away with getting close to a large bird of prey like an eagle is that they are more acrobatic," Barber said.

But it's a deadly mistake for a red-tailed hawk when it lands in an eagle nest, as documented by the webcam at Duke Farms, N.J., in 2013.

"If it's not in the air outmaneuvering the eagle, it doesn't have chance," Barber said.

Webcam technology changes everything

While technology has allowed millions of viewers to watch the Harmar birds, that same technology has documented the birds watching us.

"Absolutely, these birds watch people," Barber said.

"If there is movement, they cannot not watch the movement," she said.

"They are hard-wired to watch for prey moving around," she said. "They have to watch."

The technology, a live webcam with a two-hour playback option, has made it easy for people to take selfies with the eagles by simply watching the feed from the webcam and picking out their car on Route 28.

A frame capture from the feed and, voila — eagle selfie.

Steve Gosser of Arnold, an amateur wildlife photographer, even has a selfie of himself walking near the highway with one of the eagles watching him.

It's all part of the fun, according to Kathy Kendzerski, 59, aka Dolly Queen, the administrator for the Facebook page Harmar Bald Eagles of Pittsburgh.

The Penn Hills mother of two special needs adults, with a sideline of breeding service dogs for the developmentally disabled and for the military, said her Harmar eagle group is made up of a surprising number of retired equestrians and people of all ages.

Like the tough birds they watch, this group is a bit of an outlier, breaking the cardinal rule not to name the eagles — a common scientific practice.

But they dubbed the Harmar birds Andy and Sophie, honoring Andy Warhol and Sophie Masloff, Pittsburgh's first female mayor.

The watchers have noticed that Andy delivers one unique gift to the nest each year, including planks from nearby docks and a piece of plywood, Kendzerski said.

Even with the closer view this year, they still can't identify with certainty what looks to be a knitted hat or some kind of garment.

"We're calling it the 'egg cozy,'" she said.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.