Bald Eagle . The bald eagle was classified as an endangered species 

 in Montana in March of 1978. During this study, bald eagles were observed 

 on 8 occasions during the winter of 1977-1978, at the following locations: 

 directly over the Falls (J); immediately below Kootenai Falls over the 

 footbridge (H); downriver from this location approximately 0.8 km (0.5 mi) 

 (F); on two occasions at the lower entrance of the river gorge (D); near 

 the junction of Highways 2 and 202 (two perched in conifers along the 

 river); and one perched in a conifer near the town of Libby. Observations 

 made during the winter of 1978-1979 are summarized in Table 11, and 

 locations of birds seen are shown in Figure 6. Most use of the area by 

 bald eagles occured from October through March. No active nests have 

 been found in the area (Kichura and Ruediger 1978; Meyer 1979), although 

 observations made in the Falls area in June and July of 1978 indicate 

 possible breeding. The nearest known active nest on the Kootenai River 

 in Montana is located along Lake Koocanusa, near the Canadian border 

 (Craighead and Craighead 1979). Wintering bald eagle populations of the 

 Kootenai River have been the subject of recent study in connection with 

 the proposed Libby reregulating dam (LAURD) (Craighead and Craighead 1979) 

 and the proposed BPA 230-kV Libby Integration and Northwest Montana/North 

 Idaho Support Project (Meyer 1979). Kichura and Ruediger (1978) also 

 collected nesting data in the area as part of an osprey survey. 



According to Craighead and Craighead (1979), fall migration through 

 the LAURD area occurs from early September to early December, overwintering 

 from early December through late February, and spring migration from 

 late February to mid-April. The LAURD area was found to be more important 

 as a stopover for migrating eagles (an estimated 350 eagles pass through - 

 the southward migration) than as a wintering area (only 12 or fewer were 

 known to overwinter). Craighead and Craighead (1979) estimate the 

 overwintering population on the Kootenai River from Porthill to Libby 

 Dam to be about 40. Meyer (1979) obtained a high count of 14 for the 

 Yaak River - Libby section of the Kootenai River in early December, 

 1978, but only about 7-10 eagles winter on this section (Meyer 1979, 

 Craighead and Craighead 1979). The area of heaviest concentration was 

 between Kootenai Falls and Quartz Creek, which contained 40 percent of 

 the eagles observed in this river section. Overall, the Kootenai River 

 near Kootenai Falls appears to be less important as a wintering area for 

 bald eagles than other major rivers of northwestern Montana; estimates 

 of eagle density obtained by the National Wildlife Federation's national 

 midwinter bald eagle survey (conducted January 13-27, 1979) for the 

 lower Flathead, Clark Fork, and Kootenai rivers were 1.80, 6.73, and 

 8.56 river kilometers/eagle (1.12, 4.18, and 5.32 river miles/eagle), 

 respectively. Use of the Kootenai River as a wintering area appears to 

 be limited by food availability; fish are apparently the major winter 

 food source in the Kootenai Falls area, and there is no concentrated 

 food source (such as a fish spawning run) available (Meyer 1979). Meyer 

 (1979) found that tall cottonwoods and Douglas fir received the greatest 

 use as perch trees, and that most perch trees were located 15.2 m (50 ft) 

 or less from the river. Similar findings were obtained by Craighead and 

 Craighead (1979) and this study. 



on 



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