Bald eagles nesting locally
Bald eagles are nesting in one of the county preserves in the Manchester area
The bald eagle is a noteworthy species for multiple reasons: it is the national bird of the United States, it has made a comeback from the brink of extinction in the mid 20th century, and it builds the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species. Currently we have a nesting pair of bald eagles in one of our area nature preserves.
Kelsey Dehring, park naturalist for the county, asks that if people see a nest, please admire it from a distance and do not disturb the birds!
Dehring also states that growing up she never thought she would see so many bald eagles in southeast Michigan, let alone nesting! This is because while their population in the first half of the 20th century declined from hunting and habitat loss, the widespread adoption of the pesticide DDT mid-century accelerated the process as it caused eggshells to become so thin that they broke. At their lowest point there were only 30 breeding pairs left in the state.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the banning of DDT allowed the bald eagle population to rebound and the Michigan population has since recovered. The species was removed from the U.S. government’s list of endangered species in 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the contiguous states in 2007. Currently there are around 900 breeding pairs in Michigan.
Bald eagles build their nests early compared to most birds, often by mid-February, and lay eggs shortly after. Egg incubation usually occurs mid-March through mid-April or early-May at the latest, when eggs hatch. Both the male and female take turns incubating the eggs, but the female does most of the sitting. The parent not incubating will hunt for food. The young will stay in the nest until late June or early July.
A young eaglet can gain up to six ounces a day, the fastest growth rate of any North American bird. By eight weeks, the eaglets are strong enough to flap their wings, lift their feet off the nest platform, and rise up in the air. The young fledge at anywhere from 8 to 14 weeks of age, though, will remain close to the nest and attended to by their parents for a further six weeks.
Bald eagle nests are often very large in order to compensate for the size of the birds. The nest is the largest of any bird in North America; it is used repeatedly over many years and, with new material added each year, may eventually be as large as 13 feet deep, 8.2 feet across and weigh one ton. Usually nests are reused until they either collapse in storms or break the branches supporting them by their sheer weight.
In the past decade it has become more common to see bald eagles in the Manchester area. Remember, if you have the opportunity to see this fascinating bird, or a nest, in person, don’t disturb it!
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