8 oo EC ATULD SU TB OUN 2 BeUsL ane ee 
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distinguish between the two. Not many of these “hunters” are that skilled. 
How many Bald Eagles have been killed from airplanes, mistaken for 
their cousins? 
Another cause of eagle scarcity is the endless persecution. When an 
eagle nest is discovered by the average person, he tells his friends and 
neighbors. Before long the whole area is swarming with people who ‘“‘just 
came to see the nesi,” but stay to disturb the adults. The parents can take 
just so much harassment before they leave. Nest robbing is not as big a 
factor as it was a few years ago. Even so, there are a few people who will 
want an eagle’s egg because the eagle is disappearing, and one egg won’t 
hurt much, or will it? 
Alleged bird “banders’” sometimes climb the nest tree to get a good 
look at the eggs or young. When the young birds see something as big 
and strange as a man climbing up to the aerie, they usually want to get 
out before it gets in! When the man has had his fill looking at an empty 
nest, he climbs down to look for one of the young birds. After he studies 
it for a while, he leaves, usually making no attempt to return the nestlings 
to their nest. Leaving a young bird, sparrow or eagle, on the ground means 
almost certain death. On the ground there are many enemies: foxes, 
raccoons, dogs, cats, and, of course, man. 
The destruction of nesting trees has not helped the situation either. 
It seems that a tree that has stood for eighty years must suddenly come 
down. Even if it has a cartload of sticks and a pair of adult eagles flying 
around it, the tree has to go. This is called “progress.” The advancing 
population has not aided the eagle’s cause, either. If a housing develop- 
ment goes up even a mile from the nest of an eagle, the bird will probably 
leave. There are such examples as that of the character who put up a 
hamburger stand within a block of an eagle’s nest and named it, appro- 
priately enough, the Eagle’s Nest. Needless to say, the eagles left, but 
the stand still adorns the roadside of Florida. Another example is the 
drive-in theatre that was constructed near an eagle’s nest. The birds 
abandoned the nest, complete with eggs. 
The National Audubon Scciety Continental Bald Eagle Project reports 
the major causes of death of the Bald Eagle as follows: out of 118 eagles, 
77% were shot, 9% were found dead, cause unknown, 7% were caught in 
animal traps, and 7% were killed by miscellaneous incidents. 
The Continental Bald Eagle Project reports that eagles have been 
seen in all states except Hawaii and West Virginia. The state-by-state 
population count shows: (excluding Alaska) 392 eagles in Florida, 309 
eagles in Illinois, 307 in Missouri, 287 in Oregon, 276 in Oklahoma, and 
263 in South Dakota. Eleven states have reported over one hundred 
eagles, which accounts for 74% of all the Bald Eagles in the United 
States. Eagle population is concentrated in certain areas — the Midwest, 
Northwest and Florida. The biggest concentration is along the Mississippi 
River between Minnesota and Cairo, Illinois. The waters of the Mississiopi. 
Illinois and Wisconsin rivers are kevt open in the winter by dams. The total 
number of eagles in the Midwest is 1.676 or 47%. The Northwest is the 
next most populated area. with 742 or 21%. These states include Idaho, 
Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Florida is next in eagle population with 
392, about 11%. All of the other states combined have 766 eagles, or 21%. 
Florida is the largest nesting area in the world for the Bald Eagle. 
What can we do to save the Bald Eagle? First, the problem of sterility 
should be clarified. If DDT is the cause, all spraying in the vicinity of 
eagle nests, if not everywhere in their range, should be discontinued 
