Federal protection of bald eagle challenged

The Press Enterprise Company ^ | 11:47 PM PST on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 | JENNIFER BOWLES and ADAM C. HARTMANN

[GreenFreeper]

2003 / The Press-Enterprise An bald eagle glares from a fencepost near Lake Hemet. A group's lawsuit involving the bald eagle comes in the wake of the recent deaths of two eagle chicks near the lake east of Idyllwild.

[GreenFreeper]

ECO-PING

FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!

[Carry_Okie]

Bald eagles were recently reintroduced to Monterey Bay.

Guess what they eat?

Otter pups.

The "meetings" between the eagle people and the otter people are a real scream.

[GreenFreeper]

By 1963 only 417 were found, a result of the birds eating fish contaminated by pesticides used along coast and wetlands to control mosquitoes.

Who's gonna be the first to question this statement?

[ncountylee]

a result of the birds eating fish contaminated by pesticides

Hey moonbat...there are large areas in British Columbia and Alaska where there are so many bald eagles that they ars considered pests.

[cripplecreek]

We have Bald Eagles here in southern Michigan now. That's the most heavilly populated and farmed area of the state for those who don't know.

[Danae]

We frequently see Bald Eagles here in St. Helens going North up Hwy 30 to Rainer! I have had several fly right over the truck! Kinda distracting but a beautiful site none the less! (Columbia river you see...)

[Piquaboy]

I have Bald Eagles all around my place in the winter months. There are a few around now and I live in Ioway.

[gondramB]

British Columbia and Alaska aren't in the lower 48.

[proudofthesouth]

Eagles are frequently seen in the Tennessee Valley in northern Alabama. They nest in the Guntersville Lake area.

[camle]

i thought bald eagles were protected not because they were scarce, but because they are our national bird.

[Graycliff]

I fish in Manitoba every summer. We have Eagles follow us around the lake waiting for us to release a fish who 's been hooked to deep to survive. Heck they follow us to the islands for shore lunch, waiting for handouts.

[bert]

I saw a nesting pair of Bald Eagles last fall within the grounds of the Holston army Ammunition Plant.

Their tree is on the river bank very near the High explosive magazines. They are spectacular as they soar

[tfecw]

"Heck they follow us to the islands for shore lunch, waiting for handouts."

Hmm even the national bird is getting in with the welfare state ;)

Neat birds, I don't think I've seen one. The biggest bird I saw was a vulture thingy. And when I "blasted" him with my Daisy BB gun at the age of 11 he got pissed and came for me and my "hunting party". After that we stuck to "prey" without a 50 foot wing span (or so it seemed to us)

[Roccus]

In the early 90's I spotted adult bald eagles on two occassions within the boundaries of NYC!

[cogitator]

What part of the statement -- the population in 1963 (which if true is quite a bit lower than I thought the population had reached) or the cause of the decline?

Quick search found this:

BALD EAGLE RECOVERY (U.S. F&WS)

First, from this page it looks like the statement is wrong or badly worded -- in 1963 the census found less than 500 breeding pairs, which is still low but not the same as only 417 individuals.

This is a good overview:

History of the Bald Eagle

Essentially, the main cause of the population decline was competition with humans. With the population decreasing in the early-to-mid 20th century, DDT may have contributed to additional nesting failures.

(Was that a good "questioning"?)

[elc]

I always thought it was for both reasons.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Gardener]

I have been told that there have been more than 100 breeding pairs in South Carolina for the last few years. They are a regular site in Augusta, GA every winter and a pair breed in nearby Aiken, SC. They have made an amazing comeback and I too think they should be removed from the Endangered list. It's a wondrous thing to watch one of these beautiful birds soaring on a clear, sunny winter's day or flying down and snatching a fish from the water. Awesome!

[Range Rover]

Got quite a few in CT. Interesting creatures. Had one poking around my grill early one morning. Didn't seem to care that I was 10 feet away.