Bald Eagle Goes Viral For Incubating A Rock, Until He Finally Gets A Chick Of His Own!

A bald eagle named Murphy had the internet cracking up when he tried to hatch a rock. Now, he’s proving to the world what a great dad he can be! After watching the eagle protect a rock as though it were his own child, the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, Missouri decided to make him a foster parent. They had just rescued an orphaned chick from a fallen nest, and they figured that Murphy was just the bird to take the eaglet under his wing.

It’s a good thing that the animal sanctuary intervened when they did. Apparently, the bald eagle was so protective of his rock child that he was making the enclosure unsafe for the other birds! However, when Murphy began to parent an actual eaglet, observers reported that he was “a wonderful, gentle papa.”

“This is the kind of bonding we’re looking for,” the World Bird Sanctuary said, according to Fox Weather.

Unlike Murphy, the chick did not receive a name. Apparently, sanctuary had some bad luck with named creatures in the past. Because of that, they’ve simply been referring to the little bird as 23-126.

“The rehab superstition is that named patients are cursed and either end up dying or being non-releasable,” they said.

Despite any fears for the orphaned eaglet’s future, Murphy did a great job raising his real-life child. In fact, the young bird has been released from the enclosure and allowed to fly free! The World Bird Sanctuary celebrated the occasion on social media.

“After an incredible journey, 23-126 was released back to the wild earlier today!” they wrote. “Thank you to all who attended, tuned into our live stream, or have supported our mission and followed 23-126’s journey.”

Let’s not forget to thank Murphy, the determined eagle dad who went from incubating a rock to parenting a child of his own!

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.