Meet Rosa and Martin.
Those are the names students from Sterling Middle School in Sterling, Virginia, gave to the mated bald eagles that reside on the Dulles Greenway’s Wetlands in Leesburg.
The names honor civil rights leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
TRIP II, owner and operator of the Dulles Greenway, announced the winners of the Dulles Greenway’s bald eagle naming contest Friday, which was conducted in partnership with Loudoun County Public Schools.
In celebration of their winning entry, all students and staff at Sterling Middle School will receive bracelets imprinted with the eagles’ names.
“Thank you to all the Loudoun County students that participated in the eagle naming contest for Rosa and Martin,” said Terry Hoffman, public and customer relations manager at Dulles Greenway.
“We received fifteen hundred thoughtful and creative submissions from our local students, and we are excited that we found the perfect names for our resident bald eagles. We hope the Dulles Greenway live-stream eagle camera will continue to serve as an educational resource for Loudoun County students.”
Over 9,000 LCPS students grades K-12 participated in the eagle naming contest through two online surveys, which ran from Jan. 12 to Feb. 10.
You can see the top 11 finalist names submitted by students around the county here.
Rosa and Martin have resided on the Dulles Greenway Wetlands since 2005, and returned to Leesburg for the season in November.
Last week, Rosa laid two eggs in the nest. The first eaglet is scheduled to hatch on March 8.
You can view the eagles’ live-stream camera on the Dulles Greenway website.