The Eagle's Test

How Does a Mother Eagle Choose a Mate for Her Child?

An eagle mother doesn't

Just choose a mate, she tests him out.

Clinging to a branch, she flies up and circles overhead.

The male eagles fluttering about her are trying to gain her favor.

All of a sudden, she releases the branch, and the evaluation has begun.

One of her male eagles flies down, catches it in the air, and gently returns it to her.

She lets go again and again. She'll only

Pick him if he never drops the stick, every time.

This is crucial if that male is ever to need to intercept something much more substantial;

Their fallen chick.

The pair builds a nest, which is usually built high up, after mating and prepares to receive the young.

The mother eagle deposits her eggs,

And both the mother and the father care for the chicks once they hatch by feeding them,

Giving them water and keeping them dry in all types of weather. Feathers begin to grow as the chicks get stronger.

They start to swivel, stretch, and balance, learning to feel the wind under their wings.

Then comes the learning process.

The father eagle starts breaking up the cozy nest.

He flings his wings against it, and the feathers are plucked out

Only the strong sticks stay. Sounds like a snug nest is turning into an uncomfortable one and confusing the chicks.

They ask why their parents are behaving oddly and why there is no food.

Then the mother comes in,

Settling nearby with an elusive catch: a fresh fish. She begins to eat it slowly. Fledglings call out, but no one hears.

Then they begin to shift. They wriggle, and some eventually crawl and fly away. One chick falls out, clumsy and tentative.

It drops over the edge, but at the last instant before it crashes to the ground, the father

Who had earlier grabbed a branch dives down,

Stop the baby on his back and bring him back up to the nest.

The iteration is performed several times.

At last, one day down it comes, and begins to flap its wings,

And ff it goes, wafted by the wind. Not until this point do the parents escort it to a pool of fish-filled water.

They do not give food but teach it to fish.

This is how eagles bring up their children:

With love, yes, but also with patience, with challenges,

With a deep sense of purpose.

The mother has selected a father who won't let their offspring tumble.

There are eaglets to foster, not just feed in perpetuum.

It could be that there are lessons for us as humans in the story of the eagle about trust, about the ability to confront the challenges we must inevitably face, and about a type of teaching that does not merely prepare survive, but also to thrive and soar.