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Have you seen them? The bald eagles are back!
This magnificent bird of prey, with its distinctive white head and tail
feathers, was named our national bird in 1782. It lives exclusively on the
North American continent, and historically nested in 45 of the lower 48
states.
The scientific name for the bald eagle is Haliaeetus leucocephalus,
which translates to sea eagle with a white head. Commonly known as a fish
eater, it is almost always found along streams, rivers and lakes. These
birds can lift up to four pounds in their talons, which lock in place around
prey and then have to be pushed onto a hard surface to release. With eyesight
four times better than humans, they spy their prey and dive from great distances
into the water to reach their catch.
Surprisingly, a large part of the bald eagle’s diet
is made up of carrion, or already dead meat and fish. With a wing span from
72-90 inches and weighing from 10-14 pounds, (females are larger than males)
these birds often use their formidable size to coerce food from others.
A front range biologist once relayed the story to me of seeing a red-tailed
hawk catch and kill a prairie dog. A bald eagle arrived on the scene, whereas
the red-tail dropped his catch and walked away as if to say, “Hey,
it’s yours buddy. I don’t want any trouble”.
While a few bald eagles nest in Colorado, the majority
arrive in our area from their northern summer nesting sites in late October,
and stay through March. The Animas and Pine River drainage's support over
100 eagles in January and February. The best places to see bald eagles are
along the north ends of Vallecito and Navajo reservoirs.
Watch for eagles carrying branches and starting false nests
in the early spring. While they are unlikely to nest in our area, this display
is thought to be a form of pair bonding for the breeding season to come.
(Birds less than four years old won’t have the distinctive white heads
and tails, which signifies breeding age.) Bald eagles mate “till death
do us part”, and nesting sites get used year after year, over time
amassing a huge platform of sticks that can weigh two tons.
In 1967, the bald eagle was listed as federally endangered
in most states. Populations had severely declined from historic levels of
500,000 from habitat loss, hunting, and the use of the pesticide DDT. Laws
were passed to protect eagle habitat and DDT was banned from use in the
United States in 1972. (It is still manufactured by U.S. owned companies
and sold outside the U.S.) It was down listed from endangered to threatened
in 1995, and may be delisted all together in the next several years. The
world population is now estimated to be 70,000, with 30,000 living in the
lower 48 states.
If delisted, the eagle will still be protected by
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
Act. Possession of an eagle feather or other body part is a felony with
a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment, although federally recognized
Native Americans are able to possess these emblems, which are traditional
in their culture.
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