Swamp Stomp
Volume 17, Issue 33
According to the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), a new study shows that the number of nesting pairs of bald eagles is bouncing back from their decline in the 1990s.
The study found that there are approximately 323 breeding pairs in New York, which is a record.
“New York state has been a leader in the restoration and recovery of the bald eagle in the northeastern United States,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement, “and this news confirms that our rivers, lakes and forests are capable of supporting our nation’s symbol for generations to come.”
To show just how much these numbers have grown, the DEC estimates that there were only 70 nesting pairs through the early 1900s.
By 1960, there was just one pair left due to indiscriminate killing, competition for habitat and the impact of insecticides such as DDT. Eagles would get infected with DDT when they ate prey contaminated with the chemical. DDT caused their egg shells to become so thin, they would not survive incubation.
DDT was banned in 1972. The federal Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973 and bald eagles were on the list.
In 1976, the DEC started a program to repopulate the bird in New York. Young birds were imported from other states and hand-reared by biologists to independence.
The following 12 years saw 198 eagles that were not quite old enough to leave the nest collected. The majority were from Alaska.
“The eaglets were moved to suitable habitats, fed while they became accustomed to their new homes and released once they could fly. The process is called hacking” (Ferro).
The hacking program reached its goal of 10 breeding pairs by 1989, so it was ended.
Since the end of the program, the numbers have increased steadily. Of the 442 territories in the state were a nesting pair is known to have bred at least once in recent years, 180 are found in the local DEC region, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
The bald eagle was taken off the federal endangered species list on Aug. 9, 2007.
New York’s own Endangered Species Program changed the bird’s status from endangered to threatened.
It is still against federal law to take; possess; sell; purchase; barter; offer to sell, purchase or barter; transport; export or import any bald or golden eagle whether they are alive or dead.
Bald Eagle numbers did not just drop because of DDT. Deforestation in order to support agriculture also played a role.
“They typically don’t nest in the middle of farm fields,” Scott Crocoll, a DEC biologist, said in an interview.
In the last 100 years, the forests have returned in abundance.
“We were extremely successful” with the restoration program, Crocoll said, “but a lot of the credit has to do with the change in habitat and the birds themselves. They have exploded.”
Source: Ferro, John. “Bald Eagles Thriving in Record Numbers in NY.” The Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie Journal, 06 July 2017. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.