First bald eagle chick of the year hatches at US Steel's Irvin Plant in Pennsylvania

Mary Ann Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 27, 2025

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PITTSBURGH — New bald eagle mom Stella unveiled her first eaglet early Thursday at about 1:45 a.m. in the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant nest above the Monongahela River in West Mifflin.

Like a bobblehead, the white downy-covered chick could be seen poking its head up for short stretches on Thursday via a live webcam set up by U.S. Steel and wildlife streaming company PixCams of Murrysville.

There is one remaining egg to hatch in the next few days. Three eggs were laid, but the first one didn't hatch.

"I'm praying to see another bobblehead soon," said Irvin Plant manager Don German.

Stella will keep her new chick warm and feed it small morsels while her mate, Irvin, keeps the food pantry stocked. Irvin will also relieve his mate from nest duty for short periods.

This nesting season marks the sixth at the site and the new eaglet is the eighth hatched there.

The steelmaker is broadcasting the live feed and announcing the arrival of the cute hatchlings on a message board along Camp Hollow Road at the Irvin Plant entrance, as well as its Pittsburgh headquarters and plants in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Arkansas, German said.

The steel mill set up four cameras near the nest site for its live eagle streaming web page.

"I had one of the cameras on Irvin (the male eagle) today and watched him catch a bluegill and take it to the nest," German said.

By noon, Irvin had brought in three meals for Stella and the young chick including fish and a bird.

"We welcome people to come and join in this beautiful camera showing nature and getting to see America's bird nesting on our plant property," German said. "It is an honor and a blessing to share."

In his free time, German gives eagle talks at local schools, libraries and clubs.

The Irvin Plant webcam is one of just two in Pennsylvania live streaming breeding bald eagles who are currently looking after young.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission offers the other in Lancaster's Farm Country cam, which features two eaglets.

The December demise of the Hays bald eagle nest near the Glenwood Bridge was disappointing after it had produced years of successful breeding. The site hosted the first bald eagles to nest in Pittsburgh's city limits in 150 years.

However, nature and eagle fans have found a way and have migrated to the steelmaker's webcam site, said PixCams president Bill Powers.

"With the loss of the Hays nest this year, it has given the Hays eagle fans a new Pittsburgh nest to watch. It's been wonderful to see the USS nest get this new viewership!" he said.

The steelmaker's webcam has attracted 101,000 unique viewers and 40,000 hours of watch time this month, Powers said.

With the recent hatch, those numbers will only go up, he added.

German says he's excited because, once there's a chick in the nest, there is guaranteed nest activity as the birds grow for the next three months before they fledge.

Formerly endangered, there are more than 400 nesting bald eagles in Pennsylvania, according to preliminary surveys for the Pennsylvania Bird Atlas.