America’s Bald Eagle Population Continues to Soar

March 25, 2021 by TWN Staff
America’s Bald Eagle Population Continues to Soar
An American Bald Eagle.

Populations of the American bald eagle — the bold national symbol of the United States — have quadrupled since 2009, according to a new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners.

Bald eagles once teetered on the brink of extinction, reaching an all-time low of 417 known nesting pairs in 1963 in the lower 48 states.

However, 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.

According to scientists from the Service’s Migratory Bird Program, the bald eagle population climbed to an estimated 316,700 individual bald eagles in the lower 48 states. This indicates the bald eagle population has continued to increase rapidly since the previous survey.

The information is now available in the new technical report: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Final Report: Bald Eagle Population Size: 2020 Update.

“Today’s announcement is truly a historic conservation success story. Announcements like ours today give me hope. I believe that we have the opportunity of a lifetime to protect our environment and our way of life for generations to come. But we will only accomplish great things if we work together,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

“The recovery of the bald eagle is one of the most well-known conservation success stories of all time,” said Service Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams. “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.”

To estimate the bald eagle population in the lower 48 states, Migratory Bird Program pilot biologists and observers from many Service regions, programs and contract observers conducted aerial surveys over a two-year period in 2018 and 2019.

The Service flew aerial surveys over high-density eagle nesting areas to generate accurate estimates and count occupied nesting territories. To obtain information on the lower density eagle nesting areas, the agency worked with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to use eBird relative abundance data to acquire information on the areas that were not practical to fly as part of our aerial surveys.

“Working with Cornell to integrate data from our aerial surveys with eBird relative abundance data on bald eagles is one of the most impressive ways the Service has engaged with citizen science programs to date,” said Jerome Ford, service assistant director for the agency’s Migratory Bird Program. “This critical information was imperative to accurately estimate the bald eagle population in the contiguous United States, and we look forward to working with Cornell in the future.”

Based on those two major sets of data for this population estimate, the Service next created an integrated population model to expand the estimates of the number of occupied nests across the plot area to estimates of the entire population in the lower 48 states. Information on survival rates, productivity and breeding rates provided the information needed to make this conclusion.

A+
a-
  • Bald Eagle
  • DDT
  • endangered species
  • population
  • Research
  • science
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Environment

    March 20, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    White House Unveils Sweeping Rules to Speed Switch to Cleaner Cars

    WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday rolled out an ambitious new regulatory regime aimed at bolstering the standards of... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday rolled out an ambitious new regulatory regime aimed at bolstering the standards of electric and hybrid vehicles by placing new restrictions on tailpipe emissions. According to administration officials, who briefed reporters on the new rules during a conference call... Read More

    March 18, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    EPA Finalizes Ban on Ongoing Use of Asbestos

    WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized a rule to prohibit the ongoing use of chrysotile asbestos, the... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized a rule to prohibit the ongoing use of chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos currently used in or imported into the United States. The ban is the first to be finalized under the Toxic Substances... Read More

    March 15, 2024
    by Tom Ramstack
    Senate Told Growing Wildfire Threat Needs New Strategies

    WASHINGTON — The number of wildfires driven by climate change has grown but the U.S. effort to control them has... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The number of wildfires driven by climate change has grown but the U.S. effort to control them has not, according to emergency response officials at a Senate hearing Thursday. At least not fast enough to prevent disasters like the fire that ravaged Maui in... Read More

    March 15, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    DOE to Provide Conditional $2.26B Loan for Lithium Project in Nevada

    WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy is extending a conditional $2.26 billion loan to Lithium Americas Corp. to support its... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy is extending a conditional $2.26 billion loan to Lithium Americas Corp. to support its effort to build a lithium carbonate processing plant in Nevada. Once operational, the plant, which will be located in Thacker Pass, about 200 miles northeast of... Read More

    March 15, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    EPA Sets Tougher Limits on Gas Used to Sterilize Medical Devices

    WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized tougher restrictions on ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas commonly used to... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized tougher restrictions on ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas commonly used to sterilize medical devices. The new standards specifically target commercial sterilization facilities. The agency called them “the strongest measures in U.S. history to reduce emissions of EtO,”... Read More

    US, Canada and Indigenous Groups Announce Proposal to Address Cross-Border Mining Pollution

    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from... Read More

    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways and harming fisheries on both sides of the border for years. The proposal would... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top