bald eagles

There’s a bird in there somewhere.

Images of a bald eagle protecting its eggs while buried in snow shocked the Internet Thursday, but according to experts everything is perfectly fine.

The screenshots came from a live web cam from the Pennsylvania Game Commission in Hanover, one of which (above) was posted on the commission’s Facebook page.

In the post they explained some of the ways the birds stay warm in the Winter, including eating lots of food and fluffing their feathers.

Eagles develop a brood patch when breeding. A brood patch is an area without feathers and a lot of blood vessels. This patch allows the adult to easily transfer heat from themselves to the egg(s).

“Think of them lying in an eagle down comforter,” naturalist Jack Hubley told LancasterOnline.

The eagle couple featured in this live cam were unofficially nicknamed “Liberty” and “Freedom” by readers of the local news site.

Here is one of the bald eagles on Friday, looking a bit more comfortable.

And here’s a clip of the bird breaking through the snow.

Images Via: Pennsylvania Game Commission