Bald eagle Murphy cried after throwing a rock (left) to stay with an orphaned eaglet. A bald eagle that became famous for adopting a rock at a Missouri sanctuary recently took a new baby bird under its wing.
The 31-year-old bird named Murphy went viral in March after photos of his home at the World Bird Garden in Valley Park, Missouri, were shared on Twitter. A sign on the site’s fence tells visitors that Murphy is searching for a rock.
“If you see an eagle lying in the back left corner and on a perch, that’s Mυrphy! Murphy is not injured, ill or otherwise suffering,” the signature reads. “He built a hole in the ledge and was very careful when hitting a rock! We wish him the best! The tweet has garnered more than 4.5 million views and nearly 140,000 likes. On March 26, Sanпctυary made a Facebook post about Murphy and stone, which they later named “RockBaby.”
“While it might make you feel sad that Mυrphy has made a career of turning a rock into an egg, that’s just his hormonal response to germination. Murphy is not sad so you don’t have to be sad,” the post said.
In an interview on April 4, the team said Murphy had grown so protective of RockBaby that he had taken a third of the 90,000 cubic-square-foot enclosure he shared with the Eagles. other.
Due to Murphy’s rampage, he and the rock were moved to their private space inaccessible to the public.
However, good news is still coming to Murphy. On April 2, the sanctuary shared photos of a red bald eagle chick they received after a storm blew away its bald eagle nest. The organization said the baby will be placed with an adult eagle because he is at high risk of being affected by an eagle.
Although Mυrphy was not initially a match for the job, the guard wrote on April 12 that he wished to be the best choice for the chick.
“It was decided that we would give Murphy a chance to raise the eaglet. Murphy’s dad’s advice was on the high side, but at 31 years old, he had never raised a chick before,” the sanctuary wrote. “It’s definitely a gamble, but it’s also the chick’s best chance.”
The baby was introduced to Murphy in a small wooden and wire box that people jokingly called “Baby Prison”. Once the box was placed in Murphy’s room, staff monitored their interactions as Murphy learned to accept the chick. The chick was taken out of the box and allowed to interact with Murphy, who began feeding and protecting it.
“It’s too much for the heart to bear. The fact that the chick’s face is blurred is surprising. That caterpillar is so annoying peeping,” the man captioned a photo of Murphy and the chick on Facebook. “It wants more and more food! Good thing Murphy has all the υ to deliver it!” After a bout of severe weather and storms in Missouri on April 16, the sanctuary said it caused the chicks to suffer from hypothermia and shock. It was treated at the holy hospital and returned to Murphy and newly “reinforced and improved” to meet their needs.
The World Bird Park did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for a response.