Different families - eagle
What do you dee in the picture, what do you notice? What do you think this story is about?
Murphy is a male bald eagle who lives at a bird sanctuary in Missouri, USA. He is 31 years old, which is old for a bald eagle; they usually live for 20-30 years.
What is Murphy looking at, what do eagles eat?
What do you think is about to happen?
A keeper noticed Murphy had carefully made a nest of leaves around a rock and was protecting it like an egg. He would screech at other birds who came near, and would sit on the rock to keep it warm.
Why do you think Murphy was doing that?
Keepers discussed swapping the rock for a real eagle egg so that Murphy could be a dad but there were no spare eggs. Also eagles often do not usually react kindly to other chicks.
Then a nest with two eagle chicks was blown down by high winds and they were bought to the sanctuary. One chick did not survive and the other needed a parent urgently.
What do you think the keepers decided to do?
Murphy had never raised a chick before. Could he be a good parent? Some keepers were worried this would not work...
What would you advise?
What do you know about different families today? Is there only one way to be a family?
Baby chicks cannot be introduced immediately to adult eagles so at first the chick had to be in a protective cage in Murphy's enclosure while the two birds got used to each other. But at some point the cage would have to be removed...
One month later, the sanctuary released a statement: IT'S HAPPENING!
"This morning Murphy got his chance to be a parent as the chick left the nest. Chopped food is being dropped in to the nest but it appears the chick is unable to climb back in to the nest to get to the food. When we checked back we found all the chopped food still in the nest and the chick still out of the nest. However Murphy's whole fish had been removed from the nest and baby had a full crop. The chick is not yet able to tear food which means MURPHY FED THE BABY!"
What is a family?
Some people might argue Murphy should not have been given a chick; he is old, he is a male eagle, he has never raised a chick before, he might be dangerous... can you see both sides of the argument? How would you respond?
Why didn't the keepers give the chick to an mother eagle instead?
What are the signs Murphy is going to be a good Dad?
What can we learn from Murphy?
Why is this about No Outsiders?
Which British Value is this about?
No Outsiders: We belong here by Andrew Moffat (scheme of work for primary schools)
Register to be a No Outsiders school (get access to members page with additional resources)
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