Bald Eagle

The History of Bald Eagles

• Early History
• What Happened?
• Scrambled Eggs Instead of Babies
• Trying to Help
• Recovery!
• Try This! Rooting Out the Problem

Credit Ed Robertson

Early History Much of the history of Bald Eagles in America before European settlers arrived is lost. Native peoples understood a great deal about eagle numbers and where they were found, and eagles have always been important figures in Native American culture. But sadly, much of the early history was lost when, for over a generation, native children were prohibited by the government from learning their native languages in school and often separated from the elders who kept oral traditions alive. So most of what we know about eagles is limited to discoveries after European settlement.

Many ornithologists believe that the eagle population numbered about half a million birds when Columbus arrived in America. Eagles lived on every river and chain of lakes on the continent. When John James Audubon traveled throughout much of the continent painting birds in the early and mid-1800s, he was very concerned about how scarce eagles were becoming. He wrote, "A century hence they will not be here as I see them, Nature will have been robbed of many brilliant charms."

• People competed for the same fish the eagles needed
• People drained wetlands
• People cut down forests where eagles nested
• People shot thousands of eagles. Between 1917 and 1953, over 100,000 eagles were killed in Alaska alone because fishermen were afraid the eagles would eat the fish the people wanted. Some people still sell eagle talons and feathers on the black market.
• Animals shot by people were eaten by scavenging eagles, who swallowed bullets and lead shot and got lead poisoning
• People set leg traps for fur-bearing animals like beavers and muskrats, and for wild predators like coyotes and wolves, sometimes accidentally catching and killing eagles.
• Animals poisoned by people were eaten by scavenging eagles who got poisoned, too.
• Pesticides that built up in the tissues of fish and other animals were eaten by eagles. Some pesticides build up in fat tissue, and are magnified over time. (See our lesson on DDT.)
• Factories discharged serious pollutants into rivers without legal limits, killing fish and poisoning eagles
• When eagles flew near power lines, if their wing feathers touched two wires simultaneously they got electrocuted
• Eagles scavenging on roadkilled animals were hit by cars.

Thanks to all this work, eagle numbers started to recover. By the early 1980s, eagles were being seen regularly in more and more places, and immatures were being found once again. DDT remained in eagle tissues, and in the environment, but little by little it was decreasing. And little by little eagle numbers increased. And then faster and faster. First the eagle was removed from the endangered list in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington and Oregon (it was never considered endangered in Alaska). Then in July, 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states to threatened.

Currently, 7,066 known nesting pairs exist in the contiguous United States. The Bald Eagle's territory stretches over much of the North American continent. Tens of thousands more live in Alaska and Canada, where their existence never was imperiled. Eagles are now nesting again in most states, and even near some large cities. How are eagles doing in your area?

In February, 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced action that could lead to the Bald eagle coming off the endangered species list within the next year or so. Fish and Wildlife experts say this change in status won't change the way eagles are managed and protected. Bald eagles and their habitat will continue to be protected.

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