LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Students at Loudoun County Public Schools have named the two Dulles Greenway eagles after icons of the civil rights movement.
The eagles are now known as Rosa and Martin after Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Students at Sterling Middle School submitted the winning entry and will receive bracelets imprinted with the eagles' names.
The Dulles Greenway launched the contest in January. Students in grades K-12 had the opportunity to submit name ideas for the mated pair of bald eagles that have lived on the Dulles Greenway Wetlands in Leesburg since 2005.
Over 9,000 students participated in the online survey to name the eagles. Other name finalists included:
- Amelia (Earhart) and Wilbur (Wright) - Cedar Lane Elementary School
- Beauty and Bronze - Farmwell Station Middle School
- Elana and Elliott - Frederick Douglass Elementary School
- Maggie (Walker) and Arthur (Ashe) - Rolling Ride Elementary School
- Margaret (Brent) and Martin (King) - Trailside Middle School
- Michelle (Obama) and Barack (Obama) - Waxpool Elementary School
- Mildred (Loving) and Richard (Loving) - Eagle Ridge Middle School
- Sally (Ride) and Neil (Armstrong) - Discovery Elementary School
- Stars and Stripes - Madison Trust Elementary School
- Vega and Aquila - Farmwell Station Middle School
Rosa has laid two eggs in the nest.
Last year, the Dulles Greenway installed two high-definition live-stream cameras on a tree overlooking the bald eagles' nest. The first eaglet is scheduled to hatch on March 8.
This past fall, the Dulles Greenway’s bald eagles returned to the wetlands and started building their nest for the season. Once the bald eagles have prepared their nest, they will move onto the next stage in the nesting process, which is to begin laying eggs and incubating them. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this process typically occurs from January to April.
“We are excited to offer Loudoun County students the opportunity to select the names for this pair of bald eagles,” said Terry Hoffman, Public and Customer Relations Manager for the Dulles Greenway in a release. “We look forward to reviewing all of the creative name choices contributed by our local students. We hope this will be the first of many eagle naming contests with Loudoun County Public Schools, as we await the arrival of eaglets in the spring.”