Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                          Celebrity Eaglets Get Names

   by Julie Taboh

   Freedom and liberty will soon be taking off in Washington -- no, not
   the political kind, the eagle kind.

   Freedom and Liberty are the names of two baby bald eagles who became
   internet stars when they hatched [1]live via webcam in March.

   The names were announced Tuesday at a ceremony at the [2]U.S. National
   Arboretum near Capitol Hill.

   ''The baby eagles and their parents, Mr. President and The First Lady,
   hit the big time after remote-controlled cameras set up near their nest
   captured and transmitted rare, live images of their arrival via the
   internet.

   More than 30,000 webcam fans from around the world submitted names for
   the eaglets in a "Name the Nestlings" contest that was run through
   social media.

   The entries were narrowed down to the five most popular pairings --
   Stars and Stripes, Freedom and Liberty, Honor and Glory, Anacostia and
   Potomac, and Cherry and Blossom -- and those pairings were presented to
   the public for a vote.

   Arboretum director Richard Olsen worked with the American Eagle
   Foundation and other partners in the U.S. to bring the live webcam
   images of America's national bird to millions of viewers around the
   world.

   "This is a really good example of live-action nature," he said. "So
   much of what we watch today on TV or our devices is not really live,
   other than sports, so to be literally eating, breathing, living and
   sleeping with these eagles through these webcams is giving people
   firsthand knowledge of what's going on and what it takes to raise an
   American bald eagle family."

   "We've really gotten attached to this eagle family, and the way to
   cement it is with names," he added.

   A learning opportunity

   Al Cecere, president of the American Eagle Foundation, said they held
   the naming contest "because we thought it would really be a way to
   bring the public even closer to these birds and feel part of what
   they're doing and learn more about them, especially the
   schoolchildren."

   ''Cecere said the project was notable because it came along at "a time
   where people are so divided," yet they wanted to "experience something
   that they could share together, that they could agree upon."

   More than 35 million people from 100 countries have been visiting the
   webcam to watch the nestlings grow and develop under the watchful eyes
   of their parents.

   The cameras serve a dual purpose: helping biologists learn more about
   eagle behavior and educating the public.

   Freedom and Liberty, whose gender is still unknown, are expected to
   leave their nest in June, when they're about 12 weeks old.

   "We hope that these eaglets will grow up ... and maybe find a mate
   someday and come back to this area and set up their own nest and raise
   their own babies here in the Washington, D.C., area,"  said Cecere.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/celebrity-eaglets-get-names/3303934.h
   tml

References

   1. http://dceaglecam.eagles.org/
   2. http://www.usna.usda.gov/
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/celebrity-eaglets-get-names/3303934.html