This eagle thinks it's incubating an egg. It's actually a rock
No wonder Murphy the eagle looks like he's sitting on a secret.
He is. Instead of incubating an egg, Murphy's incubating a rock.
He squawks when another eagle lands on a branch above the nest he built on the ground. Murphy was injured as a chick and can't fly, which is why he lives at the World Bird Sanctuary outside of St. Louis.
Dawn Griffard, CEO of the World Bird Sanctuary, said, "he just seems very content with this rock."
In a video captured by one of the keepers at the sanctuary, Murphy can be seen unusually guarded about a rock in the middle of his nest. Normally, eagle parents turn their eggs every few hours and sure enough, Murphy can be seen nudging the rock and settling down to keep it warm.
It takes about 35 days for an eagle egg to hatch, Griffard said, meaning "he might sit there a little longer just to, you know, because it hasn't hatched."
People are smitten with Murphy's dad skills but feel bad that he's incubating a dud. Some have suggested replacing the rock with a chick, but it could be tricky to make that happen.
A fertilized eagle egg would be hard to come by. And if they slipped in, say, a goose egg, it's hard to tell how Murphy might react.
Griffard says birds whose eggs don't hatch properly tend not to show signs of being depressed, so Murphy should be able to move on once he realizes his "egg" isn't hatching.
"I don't think anybody has to tell him. I think he'll figure it out," Griffard said.
Watch the video above to learn more about Murphy.