Not long ago, catching a glimpse of a bald eagle was a rare thrill. While it’s still thrilling, we can celebrate that it’s increasingly common.
Dipping my blade in the water, I move my kayak swiftly along the murky edge of the Willamette River just outside Portland, Oregon. It’s a chilly but sunny Spring day, and we are outside to enjoy the weather. The trees aren’t leafing out yet and all of us are eagerly looking for any kind of wildlife along the soggy banks. Mostly we just hear robins and an occasional woodpecker and see one turtle sunning himself on a flat rock.
“There’s a bald eagle!” This exclamation comes from a friend who is a little ahead of me and all four of us crane our necks to see the majestic wingspan and distinctive white head of a bald eagle. Wondering if there are more of them, we quickly maneuver our kayaks to get a better view as we share stories of when and where we’ve seen eagles most recently.
Seeing bald eagles is always a thrill. Growing up in the 1970s and ‘80s, we learned that the bald eagle was close to becoming extinct, and we had to act swiftly to save them. We believed that the chance of seeing a bald eagle was slim to none and any time anyone saw one, the reaction was always amazement at how lucky they were to see such a rare sight.
I don’t remember the first time I saw one in the wild, but it wasn’t until I moved to Washington, D.C., in 1991 that I started seeing them with regularity. If you drove down the George Washington Memorial Parkway, along the picturesque Potomac River, you’d see one or two perched in the trees. Cars would slow down to spot them; in fact, that’s how you knew they were there.
In the 18th century, there were an estimated half million eagles in existence, but that number had plummeted in the 1950s to only 412 nesting pairs in the Lower 48. Up until the mid 1940s, these shockingly low numbers were a result of encroachment on their natural wetland habitat and public prejudice of the many farmers and ranchers believing that bald eagles killed their livestock. Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in 1940 to curtail the loss of our national bird.
Despite these protections, the use of DDT after World War II to control insects led to pollution in waterways and contaminated the fish that eagles ate. The chemicals led to the thinning of eggshells and chick mortality of eagle and other bird populations. It wasn’t until the passing of the 1967 Endangered Species Preservation Act and the 1978 Endangered Species Act that more protections for bald eagles started to make a difference. Factors for success included captive breeding programs, protection of breeding sites through the designation of national refuges, and strident law enforcement.
According to the Defenders of Wildlife, by 1995, eagles were categorized as threatened — improved from endangered — and by 2007, there were nearly 10,000 nesting pairs in the Lower 48. In 2021, that number grew to 71,500. Currently, lead pollution from fishing weights and gunshots, motor vehicles, and wind turbines are the main threats to those nesting pairs.
Here in Oregon, we have plenty of bald eagles, and it’s not unusual to see one while hanging out in our backyard, hiking in local parks, driving in the Columbia Gorge, or simply looking skyward.
What You Can Do
- Watch for eagles nests and give them a wide berth.
- Advocate for the protection of eagle habitats.
- Write to your government officials to ask them to evaluate wind turbines that kill thousands of eagles.
- Avoid harmful pesticides that contaminate their habitats.
- Don’t use lead shot or fishing lures.
Visit www.eagles.org for more information on what you can do to help preserve the bald eagle.
Read more dispatches from around our pale blue dot:
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Food waste thrown out with general waste has plummeted to less than three percent. How did South Korea become a world leader in managing food waste? Donghyuk Jang, a resident of Goyang city in South Korea’s capital area, takes a bag of food waste twice every week to the apartment block garbage bin. This is no ordinary trash can, however. When Jang scans his residential card, the lid opens. He dumps the bag’s contents into the bin, and pushes the ‘close’ button. A friendly voice says, “You have thrown out 2,350 grams. 148 won [11 US cents] has been deducted.” Read the story.
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A group of righteous neighbors in a New York suburb is on a mission to protect a historic forest. Read the story.
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Raíz de Fondo in Baja California Sur’s capital city of La Paz is planting gardens, one mind at a time. Read the story.
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A former oil drilling site, Banning Ranch is nearing transformation into a nature preserve. Read the story.
Kemp’s ridley sea turtles return to the ocean after being cold-stranded and undergoing specialized rehabilitation. Read the story.
As the Western United States and other arid climates around the world face increased wildfire activity, many civilians are forced to flee. Wildland firefighters run toward the flames. Read the story.
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How university students re-imagined parking spaces in the heart of downtown Toronto. Read the story.
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The iconic park celebrates its 150th birthday this year with plans to protect it for another 150 years. Read the story.
An ambitious (and replicable) program in Vermont turns surplus food into delicious meals for the hungry, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. Read the story.
Once considered unswimmable, the Willamette has found new life as a popular swimming and kayaking destination. Read the story.
