Bald eagles may have hatched in District of Columbia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eaglets may have been hatched by the first pair of bald eagles to nest in the District of Columbia since 1947, an Environment Department spokeswoman in the U.S. capital said on Monday. The nesting bald eagles, the U.S. national emblem, were noticed by staff in a tree at the park-like National Arboretum in January, according to the Arboretum website. Wildlife experts believed the pair began incubating eggs in late January, and the normal five-week incubation period has expired. "Apparently, they are showing all of the signs of hatched birds," said Julia Christian, a spokesman for the District's Environment Department. They include the female walking around the nest "tenderly" to avoid stepping on the hatchlings, she said, adding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans a flyover next week. The pair of bald eagles, or Haliaeetus leucocephalus, selected a nesting site in northeast Washington very similar to the one described for the last pair in 1947, the Arboretum website said. Bald eagles are fish eaters, and the current site is near the Anacostia River. The site in the Arboretum also has little human disturbance, it said. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Sandra Maler)