Eagle who went viral for trying to hatch a rock gets an eaglet of his own

An eagle who went viral for trying to incubate a rock has been now given his very own eaglet to take care of.

The 31-year-old male bald eagle named Murphy lives at the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri.

Last month, he went unexpectedly viral on Twitter after a visitor to the park shared a sign that had been put up by the sanctuary.

It explained: “Murphy is NOT hurt, sick, or otherwise in distress. He has built a nest on the ground, and is very carefully incubating a rock! We wish him the best of luck!”

Despite it being down to natural behaviour, many were sad that Murphy wouldn’t have the chance to demonstrate his clear fatherly instincts on a real baby chick.

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But, that has since changed after a stroke of fortunate timing saw a “bruised and battered” eaglet of around 2 weeks old brought into the sanctuary after it was blown out of its nest.

In a post on the sanctuary’s Facebook page, it explained: “It was then decided that we would give Murphy a chance at fostering the eaglet. Murphy’s dad instincts were already in high gear, but at 31 years old, he had never raised a chick before.

“It’s definitely a gamble, but also the chick’s best chance.”

A video was shared in an update, showing Murphy “modelling” eagle behaviour for the new chick to learn.

The staff wrote: “You can see Murphy waiting for the baby to eat. When the baby doesn’t eat right away, he takes a bit of food, and then the baby begins to eat. This is the kind of bonding we’re looking for.”

It’s fair to say the content has captured people’s hearts and many have fallen in love with Murphy and his eaglet.

Someone commented: “It’s wonderful and amazing that Murphy is the perfect papa. So happy WBS gave him a chance!”

Another wrote: “Murphy is a great dad! His baby is so very lucky. They both are giving each other what they each need. It is so heartwarming.”

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