Lourdes Update

Philippine Eagle Lourdes
Adoptor: Wills International Sales Corp.
September 2018

Lourdes is a 17-year-old captive-bred Philippine Eagle hatched on November 11, 2000, at the Philippine Eagle Center. She is one of three female malimprinted birds at the Center who are candidates for artificial insemination. These eagles are habituated to the presence of their keeper whom they see as their mate.

At the onset of the breeding season last month, Lourdes was transferred to a new duplex enclosure in the isolated area. Her keeper Eddie Juntilla observed that she quickly adjusted to her surroundings. He hears Lourdes issue recognition and sex vocals when he visits her, which indicates that she has adapted to her new enclosure.  Her vocals are also loud enough to stimulate the male malimprinted eagle in the adjacent enclosure.  Juntilla has also observed Lourdes building a nest in the enclosure. Although she has laid an egg in the previous season, she was not inseminated due to insufficient semen collected from male eagles. This season, Juntilla is working on collecting viable semen from the male eagles in order to inseminate the female eagles so that they can hopefully lay fertile eggs.

Lourdes is fed once daily with 300 grams of the white rat, rabbit, or goat meat. Live-prey feeding is done once a week for the Philippine Eagles as an enrichment activity to sharpen their hunting and flight skills. Lourdes’ role in our captive breeding program is important in producing the next generation of Philippine eagles to help augment the species’ dwindling population. Her progress is made possible through the generosity and support of her adopter Wills International Sales Corp.