America! Bald Eagle Populations Are Now Soaring in 48 States
“The recovery of the bald eagle is one of the most well-known conservation success stories of all time”
The Bald Eagle, America’s national symbol, faced endangered status a little over a decade ago, but things have turned around for the better.
The Bald Eagle is now flourishing in 48 states.
Matthew Daly reports at the Associated Press:
US report: Bald eagle populations soar in lower 48 states
The number of American bald eagles has quadrupled since 2009, with more than 300,000 birds soaring over the lower 48 states, government scientists said in a report Wednesday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said bald eagles, the national symbol that once teetered on the brink of extinction, have flourished in recent years, growing to more than 71,400 nesting pairs and an estimated 316,700 individual birds.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in her first public appearance since being sworn in last week, hailed the eagle’s recovery and noted that the majestic, white-headed bird has always been considered sacred to Native American tribes and the United States generally.
“The strong return of this treasured bird reminds us of our nation’s shared resilience and the importance of being responsible stewards of our lands and waters that bind us together,″ said Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary.
Bald eagles reached an all-time low of 417 known nesting pairs in 1963 in the lower 48 states. But after decades of protection, including banning the pesticide DDT and placement of the eagle on the endangered species list in more than 40 states, the bald eagle population has continued to grow.
Lexi Lonas of The Hill has more:
“After decades of protection, the banning of the pesticide DDT, and conservation efforts with numerous partners, the bald eagle population has flourished, growing to more than 71,400 nesting pairs,” the agency said .
“The recovery of the bald eagle is one of the most well-known conservation success stories of all time,” Service Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams said. “The Service continues to work with our partners in state and federal agencies, tribes, non-government organizations and with private landowners to ensure that our nation’s symbol continues to flourish.”
If you have ever seen a Bald Eagle up close, you may have been surprised by its size. They’re huge birds.
They also make a particular sound. A family took the video below in Alaska who found over 30 birds behind their house during salmon season.
Featured image via YouTube.
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We had bald eagles near Joliet, Illinois, for the first time in quite a while. I have some decent photos of both adults and juveniles. Many more eagles on the Illinois River and up and down the Mississippi between Illinois and Iowa.
The comeback of the bald eagle is also good news for communities with feral cat problems.
There were probably always more bald eagles than we realized. Watchers counting eagle populations were probably counting bald eagles as golden eagles.
The immature bald eagles look very much like golden eagles. And, many of the older bald eagles were growing their feathers long on one side and combing them over!
Recently saw one over northern Manhattan. If they like rats they will get good and fat.
We’ve got a batch of them around Manhattan Kansas too.
https://www.travelks.com/blog/post/bald-eagle-viewing-in-kansas/
We have a Bald Eagle nest at Bellwood Country Club in Pottstown PA. Some of the eagles come to my neighbor’s pond.
The largest population of Bald Eagles south of Canada is in the Jordan Lake region of North Carolina. Cams are set up in some nests every year so people can watch them and their babies without disturbing them. I have many pictures of Bald Eagles flying over the Haw River.
Not so fast with that claim, LaKe Superior has a huge population that spans Wisconsin and Minnesota
we have a few on the highway between here and town that we have dubbed “Jefferson” and “Madison”
They are magnificent birds.
A bald eagle family was seen nesting in a saguaro cactus in Arizona last year.
Good news for the eagles! Unfortunately, our new national symbol is the face diaper.
The banning of DDT use for crop protection likely improved things for the bald eagle.
However, the banning of DDT for malaria control likely resulted in millions of deaths of children in Africa.
Traveling on Interstate 10 last week we saw one on the border of Arizona and California.
There are nesting Bald eagles just north of Chicago in the Skokie Lagoons in Glencoe.
The claim that DDT affected eagle populations is disputed. In any event, the biggest threat now has to be windmill farms, which are notorious bird killers.
DDT claims disputed:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116727843118861313
Had one land on a popple tree in my back yard a couple years ago.
Wow those things are HUGE!
My son’s house is on the edge of the Savannas and one thing he enjoys most of all about that location is watching Bald Eagles in flight.
I did a double take when my hubs and I were driving home and saw a Bald Eagle perched on a mailbox.
I remember reading that once it was discovered that eagles will stay on the nest if there are two eggs you had a surge in hatchlings because if a nest had just one egg an artificial one would be put there to get the parent to stay.
The Missouri River flooded in 2019. When the rain stopped and the river returned to it’s normal channel, it left behind lots of very shallow pools where tons of fish get stranded. Most eventually die. They provide a smorgasbord and easy picking for birds of prey like eagles, hawks, owls, etc..
In February, 2020 we counted around 78 bald eagles along a two mile stretch of highway near one of these pools feasting on the fish. They were hard to count there were so many. As one would perch on one of the big cottonwood trees along the river bank two or three would fly away, or hop to another branch or tree, or just fly around in the sky to survey the area. So the count may be off slightly. But it was a massive flock of both mature and juvenile bald eagles. Everybody in our local community was excited about it, and a news crew from about 80 miles away came and did a story. The eagles stuck around for 3 weeks or so then slowly began to disappear.
I have been watching the popular Decorah, Iowa bald eagle cams since about 2011. They always lay their eggs and nest in early February. We are about 400 miles due south of Decorah so it was weird to me that the eagles we saw were not already nesting and incubating eggs. I can only guess they had not yet paired up and begun breeding. Though many were of mature breeding age – they had the distinctive white heads and tails of a mature bald eagle – so hopefully they found a partner in the group.
Anyway, we drove by the same spot a few times in February this year and didn’t see a single eagle.