Journey North Bald Eagle Spring 2003

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle Migration Update: February 19, 2003

Today's Report Includes:

Field Notes from Eagle Eye Nye
Satellite Data from Our New York Eagles: Winter Range Map
Keep an Eye on Eagle E63
You're the Scientist: Challenge Question #4
Home on the Winter Range: Some Definitions
Human Home Range: Challenge Question #5
Discussion of Challenge Question #3: Eagle Facts Found
Reading Strategy Spotlight: Identify and Analyze Text Structure
Ask the Expert Opens February 21

Field Notes from Eagle Eye Nye

Hi Kids,
Here's the latest migration map and data from the eagles!

Link to Latest Data:

Departure from Normal Temperatures
National Climate Prediction Center

If you had my job, what would you say you've learned so far about eagle behavior?

Which eagle has moved the most?
Which has moved the least?
Do you think the cold weather during the past week affected them?
Do you think the eagles will begin to migrate soon?
Will they all take off at the same time?

Keep an Eye on Eagle E63

E63 with Amy Rabuck and Kathy Michell

Have you noticed that one of the eagles isn't in New York? We did capture Eagle E63 in New York, on March 1st, 2001. That spring we tracked his journey north, but we had a very interesting surprise in the fall. He hardly even stopped in New York on his way south. Instead, he went all the way to the Chesapeake Bay! So it seems likely he was a Chesapeake winterer, already on his way back north when we caught him in Spring, 2001. Time will tell what he does this spring. Do you think he'll leave earlier than the New York eagles, since he's further south where it's warmer? His pattern certainly seems unique; I haven't noted any of our wintering birds going down to the Chesapeake Bay area before.

Here's something to think about before next week's update: Fish is the bald eagle's favorite food. So what do you suppose eagles eat in the winter time, when rivers and lakes freeze over?

Until next time,

Eagle Eye Nye
New York State Dept. Environmental Conservation
Delmar, NY

You're the Scientist: Challenge Question #4

During the winter months, before migration begins, Peter Nye looks closely at the eagles' behavior. His goal is to identify critical night-roosting, daytime feeding and daytime perch areas. Such habitats are of vital importance to the New York wintering eagle population.

How hard is this to do? What generalizations can be made? Your job is to define each bald eagle's home range or "winter range." See instructions and definitions here, then try Challenge Question #4:

Home on the Winter Range

Challenge Question #4:
"Based on data so far, which bald eagle seems to have the smallest winter range? Which has the largest?"

Human Home Range: Challenge Question #5
To put these eagles' movements into perspective, compare them to your own travels. What is your home range? Describe the area that you occupy in the course of your normal daily activities. Is your winter range different from your summer range? If so, think of the reasons why.

Challenge Question #5:
"How does a bald eagle's winter range compare to your own? How much of your home range do you consider to be your territory?"

(To respond to these questions, please follow the instructions below.)

Discussion of Challenge Question #3
Eagle Facts Found
Last week we asked, "If you knew nothing about bald eagles, how many new facts about eagles could you find in Peter Nye's story? Include your list of facts with your answer."

Two of our readers, Brett of St. Wendelin High School and M. Lynch, came up with ten facts from a single story! Whenever you read, keep mental notes of the new facts you encounter. Here they are the facts our readers found:

Eagles leave the "roost," or place they stayed over night, to go hunting for their breakfast.
Eagles are very cautious birds. They very rarely land right on the bait and start eating. They land a ways away and walk to it.
Attracting crows helps to lure eagles to the bait. Eagles will still come to the bait even if other eagles are occupying it, they will try to fight the others off.
When adult eagles are at about 5 years of age they are at a stage of maturity that they start nesting.
Sky-blue leg band they wear, signify them as "New Yorkers."
Purple-banded birds from Michigan.
Black-banded birds from Connecticut.
Gold-banded birds from Massachusetts.
We (Peter Nye) want to capture an un-banded, adult bald eagle, hopefully from Canada, so that we can outfit it with one of our satellite radio transmitters to continue our research into migration pathways, origins and fidelity of our wintering eagles.
Adults visit and fight over the carcass, jumping, flapping and flying at each other, talons outstretched, in an attempt to dominate the food.

Reading Strategy Spotlight: Identify and Analyze Text Structure

New!
Reading and Writing Connections

Authors make decisions about how to present information to readers. They choose from a variety of structures to organize the information for readers. Reading strategies are specific actions readers take to make meaning from text. Learn how to "Identify and Analyze Text Structure." Then revisit Peter Nye's text describing the capture of Eagle V31. How was the information from Peter Nye organized?

From: Twenty Best Reading Strategies

Ask the Expert Opens February 21
Does your class have questions for the Expert? Beginning this Friday, your questions will be accepted for Bald Eagle Expert Peter Nye. Submit them any time in the next 2 weeks BEFORE the March 7, 2003 deadline at 1 p.m. (Eastern Time).

Start Preparing Your Questions Now!

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-eagle@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #4 (or #5).
3. In the body of EACH message, answer ONE of the questions above.

The Next Bald Eagle Migration Update Will Be Posted on February 26, 2003