Franklin Klock developed his passion for the Philadelphia Eagles football team long before he started working with the real life majestic birds at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.

On Friday he’ll combine both in “Fly Eagles Friday,” an unofficial pep rally for the football team and a chance to learn about the two resident eagles, to find out how the birds football team got its name and why the bald eagle is the official symbol for the United States.

The program starts at 6 p.m. at the center, 151 E. White Bear Drive, Summit Hill.

Love for the football team is in his genes. “My dad absolutely loved them,” Klock said. When he was a child, his dad said, “Root for whoever you want, just be sure you root for the home team,” Klock said, now passing on the passion to his own son.

On Friday, Klock, naturalist and eagle handler for the center, will introduce visitors to Rennie, a female bald eagle, and Miss Charles, a female golden eagle also known as Goldie.

The golden, who is big for her species, was found in Sullivan County after being shot. She doesn’t have full rotation of her wing so she can’t be released into the wild.

“Both birds were brought in, a few weeks apart in 2001,” Klock said.

Someone hit Rennie with a car. When the call came about a big dark bird hit on Route 93 just above the prison, the center director Susan Gallagher wondered if it was a vulture.

Sure enough it was a first year eagle weighing about 10 pounds. They don’t develop the white feathers until they turn 4 or 5.

“We noticed that she didn’t just molt out brown head feathers and grow in white ones, which is what happens with tail feathers, but rather, the pigment in the head feathers gradually changed from brown to white,” Klock said.

They thought Rennie was a male but when “he” reached about 10 years old, the naturalists had a surprise. “We had an ice storm and the neighbor went down to check on the birds. She came running out with coffee spilled all over her shirt,” Klock remembered. They rushed to the pen and Rennie was aggressive because she had laid an egg. She now lays an average of two eggs a year, but they aren’t fertilized so no eaglets as a result.

At the center they eat rats (available from Tractor Supply), fresh fish donated by fisherman in the season, and road kill when it is fresh. Occasionally they will feed the birds frozen fish, but it loses the nutrients when it’s frozen. They can sprinkle it with a vitamin powder to help boost the nutrition levels.

Klock will also talk Friday about the biggest danger to eagles today - lead poisoning from ammunition.

Eagles have made a comeback in Pennsylvania since DDT is no longer used. They are so prevalent that the Pennsylvania Game Commission has stopped counting nests. There are estimated to be about 300 nests now in the state.

The problem is that when someone shoots a deer, the hunter will leave the gut pile in the woods and eagles will feed off it, eating lead in small increments. “The more they eat, the sicker they get and everything shuts down,” Klock said.

“We’re not anti-hunting, but there are better ways to do things, better ammunition,” Klock said.

They lost an eagle to lead poisoning in recent weeks.

Another bald eagle had head trauma from being hit by a car, but no fractures. That bird will be ready to be released soon. “They tell us when they are ready to go by their actions,” Klock said.

To learn more about the eagles, plan on attending the program Friday. It will be outdoors so dress for the weather. And yes, be prepared to cheer on the football team for the Super Bowl Sunday.