The packing houses are gone, yet 

 recently the number of these great birds 

 has increased due to the fact that the 

 water below the Keokuk dam is always 

 open, and an abundance of fish are killed 

 as they pass through the turbines which 

 are creating electricity. 



In the winter of 1947 and 1948, there 

 was the largest accumulation of eagles 

 in the history of this location. Mr. Cyrus 

 Phillips makes almost daily trips through 

 the territory in which these birds roost 

 and reports that he counted 83 eagles at 

 one time. * * * The birds start to gather 

 about December 1.5, and fly north about 

 February 15 when the upper river begins 

 to open. 



An appraisal of the abundance of 

 bald eagles on national wildlife 

 refuges in 1940 revealed that of 37 

 refuges reporting, 16 were not fre- 

 quented by bald eagles, 10 had them 

 in moderate numbers, mainly dur- 

 ing migration, and 11 reported them 

 as common with greatest numbers 

 during migration or in winter. 

 Whereas the terms "moderate num- 

 bers" and "common" are subject to 

 a wide range of interpretation and 

 the sizes of the various refuges also 

 add a variable to the picture, it was 

 evident that refuges in the North- 

 west, on the South Atlantic coast, 

 and along the Mississippi Eiver 

 were visited by the greater number 

 of eagles. At only one, the St. 

 Marks Refuge in Florida, was an 

 increase reported in the years previ- 

 ous to the 1940 census. 



Similar appraisals were made of 

 bald-eagle abundance on national 

 wildlife refuges in subsequent years, 

 the last survey being conducted in 

 the fall, winter, and spring of 1953- 

 54. At that time, comparisons were 

 made with the numbers recorded in 

 former years. The map (fig. 1) 

 presents the result of this appraisal, 



and the legend explains the code 

 used in recording the data. Of 89 

 refuges reporting, 21 showed an in- 

 crease, 41 no change, and 27 a de- 

 crease in eagle numbers. Yet, of 

 the 23 refuges reporting the larger 

 numbers (10 or more), 16 showed 

 an increase, 3 no change, and 4 a 

 decrease. The aggregation of bald 

 eagles along the Mississippi River 

 in the Central States may have been 

 a reflection of the mild winter of 

 1953-54, with open water prev- 

 alent. In addition to 300 bald 

 eagles recorded in 1953-54 on the 

 extensive Upper Mississippi Na- 

 tional Wildlife Refuge, the Louisa 

 Refuge in Iowa recorded 40, Reel- 

 foot in Tennessee 100, Swan Lake 

 in Missouri 40, and Salt Plains to 

 the west in Oklahoma reported 108 

 eagles, probably more than three- 

 fourths of which were bald eagles 

 (Van den Akker 1954). 



An analysis of bald eagle records 

 that appeared in the Christmas 

 bird counts sponsored by the Na- 

 tional Association of Audubon So- 

 cieties was made by Chandler Rob- 

 bins. This appraisal, covering the 

 period 1930 to 1953, clearly indi- 

 cated the concentration of these 

 birds in the Chesapeake Bay area, 

 the South Atlantic coast, Florida, 

 and the central Mississippi River 

 drainage. Fluctuating numbers 

 characterized the returns with in- 

 creases noted in the Mississippi 

 Valley and in Oklahoma in recent 

 years. These data have, in the 

 main, been substantiated by records 

 of U. S. game-management agents 

 who report on the abundance of the 

 bald eagle in their respective areas. 



At the Hawk Mountain Sanctu- 



332664—55- 



