A bald eagle’s nest
As my husband and I were driving in Cumru Township, Pennsylvania recently, we spotted a bird’s nest nestled in a large tree approximately 100 yards from the road. This particular bird’s nest was located in the top portion of the tree. The nest was quite large and noticeable.
We knew immediately it was a bald eagle’s nest. It isn’t something you see everyday, but when you do, one doesn’t forget it. An eagle’s nest is the largest of any North American bird, up to 13 feet (4 m) deep, 8.2 feet (2.5 m) wide, and 1.1 tons in weight! Part of the reason the nests weigh so much is because the pair builds it with large branches and each year they add more to the nest. The interior is usually lined with their feathers.
I had contacted Jack Holcomb of Jack’s Backyard heard on WEEU to inquire about this nest. He confirmed it was indeed an eagle’s nest. Jack is a respected radio host and active bird enthusiast.
There is a fascination over bald eagle’s nests not only for bird enthusiasts but for many people. Part of the fascination may be derived because of the scarcity of bald eagle’s nests in Pennsylvania. In Berks County there are five known active bald eagle nests, according to John Morgan, Ph. D., Wildlife Management Supervisor, Southeast Region, Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“Eagles are doing well in PA but the recovery has been slow.” “Back in the 1980’s, only three eagle nests were known to exist in the entire state. We’re up to around 200 now but that took 30 years”, says Morgan. So when one hears about a bald eagle’s nest, the public clamors to get a closer look. Such was the case in Lancaster County.
A few years ago, an eagle’s nest was spotted in Lancaster County where my husband and I ventured out to see it in person. The nest was located in an area that was not populated by many homes which is typically where eagles build their nests. The area surrounding the tree was taped off to the public. However, people disregarded the tape. Because eagles are quite sensitive to human disturbance while nesting, the eagles left their nest.That’s why I personally won’t disclose the latest location.
Interestingly, bald eagles are no longer on the Federally Endangered List but are still on the Threatened list in Pennsylvania. Mr. Morgan says the hope is that some day they will be taken off that list as well.
For me personally, seeing a bald eagle is quite fascinating. For one, the bald eagle is one of the largest birds in North America. It has a wing span of 5.9 ft- 7.5 ft! It is our national symbol and it appears on its seal. The bald eagle was chosen as the emblem of the United States of America in 1782, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist only on this continent. If you look at the backs of gold coins, the silver dollar, the half dollar and the quarter, you will see an eagle with outspread wings.
On the Great Seal of the United States and in many places which are exponents of our nation’s authority we see the same emblem.
To many, the eagle represents freedom. Living in mountains or flying into valleys or flying into the skies, the eagle is seen as having unlimited freedom.
It isn’t commonplace to see bald eagles. If you have the chance to see the male, female or babies, you have witness something special, in my opinion. In Lancaster, I saw my first pair of bald eagles and since then I’ve been quite intrigued.
The female is 25% larger than the male. It is quite difficult to differentiate them from each other. Other than size, there is no difference between the two.
Eagles typically fledge two chicks each year beginning in late February or early March. Around mid-April to early May, the babies are hatched and fledge in late June to early July.
Five years later, those chicks will be mature to fledge chicks of their own, according to John Morgan, Game Commission.
I wondered why there has been an increase in bald eagles in Pennsylvania. According to Jack, the banning of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) in 1972 has played a role. DDT was the first pesticide for anti-malarial efforts worldwide. DDT is considered controversial. Claims were made that it was a human carcinogen and affected wildlife (raptors). It was felt that it thinned the shells of eagle’s eggs and the chicks were dying as a result of it. By 1972, EPA head, William Ruckelhaus overturned a judge’s decision and placed a ban on DDT. This was considered the first major victory in the environmentalist movement in the U.S.
There are still doubts if DDT did in fact affect wildlife or is a human carcinogenic.
According to John Morgan, most eagle nests can be found in close proximity to large water bodies. “With the Schuylkill River, Lake Ontelaunee, Blue Marsh, and other lakes and large streams Berks County offers several good nesting sites. This is why nests seem to be popping up in the county, the slow increase in the eagle population, young eagles looking for nesting sites, and good nesting sites in the county.”
“The recovery simply is from greater protection of nests sites and successful reproduction.”
While we await the arrival of the baby chicks (I don’t know if they’ve hatched at time of this post), I hope readers will remember what Mr. Morgan told me.
“All it takes is a few birders getting too close, the adult is spooked off the nest when temperatures are still cold and an egg or young chick doesn’t make it. The bald eagle means a lot even to people who aren’t big birders or outdoor enthusiasts. I get more calls this time of year about bald eagles than anything else. Anybody can identify an adult bald eagle and people are so thrilled when they see one. The eagle is still being protected because their numbers and reproductive output are still not where we’d like them to be. Delisting them would reduce our ability to protect them and could stall their recovery or set it back.”
Let’s respect the bald eagle which is considered sacred and if you’re aware of this or any other nest, please keep your distance so nature can take its natural course and we can witness the growing numbers of our nation’s symbol.
If you would like to see an eagle’s nest up close and personal, you can watch a webcam that is set up in Florida where you can see what they’re up to http://www.ustream.tv/SouthwestFloridaEagleCam or one in New Jersey at http://www.dukefarms.org/Stewardship/WildlifeCams/eagle-cam/.
That one live stream is awesome!!
Five nests in Berks County. Awesome! Didn’t know we had that many. DDT did help to kill off the eagles.
Eagles are amazing to watch. I’m a birder and to see eagles in their nest is delightful. The sheer size of their nest is astounding. I didn’t know their wingspan could go to seven feet. That’s unbelievable. I wish I knew where the site was. I wouldn’t disturb them. I’ve never seen one in all of my years birding.
If people knew where this nest was, they wouldn’t care if they disturbed the eagles. They want to see the eagles at the cost of disrupting them forcing them to leave. I’m glad you didn’t disclose the location. I’d hate to see this threatened bird safe.
The live stream was incredible! You weren’t kidding when you said up close and personal.
DDT is dangerous to man and animals. It is bad for the environment. Once they stopped using it, the birds started nesting again with success.
While eagles are our national symbol, I can’t get past how they kill other animals. It isn’t nice to see. I can’t appreciate them like others do. I love nature but I hate to see how animals kill other animals. They show it on tv and I have to turn off that channel.
Glad to hear eagles are making a comeback in Berks. My hometown!
Eagles are beatiful creatures that are to be treated with respect. Unfortunately and so selfishly, some people don’t have the ability or the capacity to understand that you don’t disturb their nesting site. It’s troublesome that people disregarded the tape in Lancaster County. I really am at a loss as to why people would show a display of total disregard and force the eagles to go elsewhere. Hope very few people know about this location and if they do, let the eagles alone.
“The bald eagle recovery is thanks primarily to enforcement of federal laws protecting it from persecution, the banning in the U.S. in 1972 of the use of DDT, which bio-accumulated in eagles and other piscivorous (fish-eating) birds, eventually causing complete reproductive failure through the thinning of their egg shells to the point that eggs simply broke when parent birds tried to incubate them; passage in the same year of the federal Clean Water Act.”
In Cumru Township. My backyard. Wish I knew where it was. I have nevr seen an eagle’s nest.
I listen to Jack on Saturday. He knows his stuff regarding birds! Good man, too!
It’s pathetic that we can’t even trust to tell people where the nests for fear of destroying them. What does that say about us? Not very much. Hope the chicks hatch and will be safe.
Forty years ago, our national symbol was in danger of extinction throughout most of its range. Habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shooting, and the contamination of its food source, largely as a consequence of DDT, decimated the eagle population. Habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, the federal government’s banning of DDT, and conservation actions taken by the American public have helped bald eagles make a remarkable recovery
can’t believe what’s happening in Boston. No one is safe.
But by 1960 – 20 years after the Bald Eagle Protection Act and at the peak of DDT use – the Audubon Society reported counting 25 percent more eagles than in its pre-1941 census. U.S. Forest Service studies reported an increase in nesting bald eagle productivity from 51 in 1964 to 107 in 1970, according to the 1970 Annual Report on Bald Eagle Status.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attributed bald eagle population reductions to a “widespread loss of suitable habitat,” but noted that “illegal shooting continues to be the leading cause of direct mortality in both adult and immature bald eagles,” according to a 1978 report in the Endangered Species Tech Bulletin
“Only a handful of species have fought their way back from the United States’ endangered species list; the California gray whale, the American alligator, and the bald eagle are a few. Once endangered in all of the lower 48 states, the bald eagle’s status was upgraded to “threatened” in 1995, two decades after the banning of DDT and the passing of laws to protect both eagles and their nesting trees.”
Bald eagles- I love watching their huge wingspan. They are graceful birds who can soar so high and yes, soar so low to grab other animals for food. With their mighty claws, they can squeeze an animal to death. Not a pleasant fight but a necessary one to survive. They have to feed their young ones, too.
DDT is controversial but there has been proof to back up the claims that it had a direct effect on birds’ nests and plants. It is a powerful pesticide. The bad effects outweigh the good effects of it. Why use something that has the potential to cause alot of harm?
DDT is a controversial subject but I feel no matter how you look at it, this pesticide, as any pesticide is, is dangerous. How could it not affect plants, animals and humans?
“Only a handful of species have fought their way back from the United States’ endangered species list; the California gray whale, the American alligator, and the bald eagle are a few. Once endangered in all of the lower 48 states, the bald eagle’s status was upgraded to “threatened” in 1995, two decades after the banning of DDT and the passing of laws to protect both eagles and their nesting trees.”
Let the eagles soar with the mighty wind and be free.
Yay!
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