ELLSWORTH, Maine — Nearly three years after being removed from the state’s list of threatened species, Maine’s bald eagle population appears to be doing well as nests continue to appear in new and sometimes populated areas.
But how, exactly, eagles have fared since their change in status won’t be known until next year when the first detailed aerial surveys since the de-listing are completed.
On May 26, 2009, Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation removing the bald eagle from Maine’s list of threatened species during a special ceremony in Augusta held a short distance from the Kennebec River, where eagles are now a common sight.
At the time, Maine was on track to exceed 500 mating pairs of eagles — more than the combined eagle population in all other states north of the Chesapeake Bay. By comparison, Maine’s eagle population numbered just 20 nesting pairs in 1978.
Formerly, biologists conducted annual aerial surveys to count inhabited eagle nests and to gauge whether nesting pairs successfully reproduced. Those labor-intensive surveys will be conducted every five years now that the eagle is no longer a state-listed threatened species. Bald eagles were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007.
Charlie Todd, the lead eagle biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said although they won’t know for sure until next year, anecdotal evidence suggests that Maine’s eagle population remains healthy. That’s because he and other biologists are still called upon to check out reports of new nest sites.
“If anything, we have gotten more data in the interim years than I thought we would,” said Todd, who has spent a career working to rebuild eagle populations in the state. “We are finding enough new [nests] year to year without a special effort that it still seems encouraging. It looks like they are still increasing and expanding their range.”
They are even popping up in some relatively populated areas. Students and teachers at Waterville High School, for instance, have a bird’s-eye view of a nest in a tree next to the school. The nest, which is visible from some classrooms with the help of a telescope, was built about 2 years ago and now has several baby eagles, according to news reports.
Although no longer listed as endangered or threatened, eagles are still protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Act. That law prohibits anyone from killing eagles, destroying nests or disturbing the birds to a degree likely to injure the animal, reduce productivity or cause nest abandonment.
Killing an eagle is also a Class D crime in Maine, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. And some development projects near eagle nests still require state or federal review, although the process is less extensive than prior to 2009.
Eagle populations throughout the continental U.S. plummeted during the 1970s due, in large part, to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT, which rendered eagle eggs too brittle to survive. Most of the 20 or so nesting pairs left in Maine in the late 1970s were in coastal areas Down East. Today, they are found throughout the state.
The strong recovery to date does not necessarily mean Maine eagles have a clean bill of health, however. Biologists continue to study toxicity in eagles, especially levels of mercury contamination in the birds.
Many people would likely be surprised to learn that Maine eagles have among the highest mercury concentrations in the country. And Chris DeSorbo, raptor program director at the BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham, said what’s even more surprising is that eaglets living on pristine-looking Maine lakes are occasionally harboring mercury levels above those found in eaglets near much more polluted developed areas.
DeSorbo stressed that the research is not yet complete. But he suggested that the high mercury levels are likely due to the fact that those areas feature the right natural, environmental conditions for airborne or atmospheric mercury to be converted into a form that readily accumulates in local insects and fish.
As a top predator, eagles then accumulate even higher levels as they eat contaminated fish. The situation seems especially acute on lakes, which are not as readily flushed of contaminants as rivers or coastal areas.
“Clearly, mercury exposure isn’t [threatening] to override the eagles’ population growth because we are seeing strong growth,” DeSorbo said. But mercury contamination could be slowing that growth in some areas, he said.
Other research being conducted by BioDiversity Research Institute and others is also shedding light on the migratory and nesting patterns of Maine’s eagles. DeSorbo said more than 600 eaglets have been fitted with red-colored bands that can be used to identify those individuals.
DeSorbo now receives emails and pictures regularly from bird-watchers and photographers who spotted the banded eagles, which are showing up throughout Maine and New England as well in New York, on Lake Erie and in parts of Canada.
Additionally, some Maine eagles fitted with satellite telemetry devices are reporting their whereabouts to researchers. Of the eight being tracked, three are currently in Maine while the other five are in New Brunswick or Quebec. BRI also operates a webcam on a Maine eagle nest that is popular with viewers.
Todd with DIF&W said his office has been recording about 20 new eagle territories per year since the de-listing. But they will have a better sense of things following next year’s surveys.
“We will take an extra-careful look next year to make sure that we are on track,” Todd said.
While working online,there is something about looking out the window and seeing a Bald Eagle fly by that is so peaceful.Eagles are a success story worthy of front page news.
funded by the hunters of America
It is a whole different picture now, people see a Bald Eagle, or a Wild Turkey, and they think the eco-system is healthy, but, it is not. I hunted and fished in the late 50’s and early 60’s, we had a healthy eco-system then. It was before the coyote, or coydog landed in our woods, before the acid rain and pollution from the mid-west rolled into our land. The healthy lakes, ponds, and streams, along with the woods put a lot of good food on tables, rabbit,partridge, white perch, trout. People counted on it. There were plenty of eagles and fish hawks, because they had plenty of good food, fox, raccoon, all abounded, not the %?&K^# coyote, acid rain, and pollution have made the woods silent, and ponds and streams yielding very little good catches, and, ya have to question, is it fit to eat! Sorry I cannot get excited about Bald Eagles feeding on our baby loons now, for lack of other food.I have to question what our State’s real motives are, they should be doing all they can to wipe out the coyote, let the small game come back again. Yes, I have observed Bald Eagles stealing baby loons.
Gordon,
The coyote has not and cannot do the damage that people have done to our environment and to loons. An eagles main sources of food are fish and carrion but will take advantage of a baby loon or duck if the opportunity arises. Jet skis and speeding power boats kill many, many, more baby loons by direct hit and nest destruction than all the eagles in the state by far.
Sorry, I disagree with you logic. Their is simply no defense of the coyote, it is new to Maine woods, it somehow got into Maine woods in the 60’s, and has made the woods silent, systematically killing small game in large numbers, this, along with the pollution from the mid-west, causing acid rain and other pollution to enter our waters. Man gets far too much credit for destroying the environment here, it is a bigger picture.
t
In my opinion the reason the coyote made inroads into Maine was the systematic destruction of the wolf by man which was the only predator strong enough to kill it. By taking the woods top predator out of the picture it made room for another but smaller top predator to take over that role . Because of the nature of the beast all of our efforts to eliminate the coyote will not bode well for us if we succeed which we won’t. You are correct that the coyote;s main diet is small animals but mostly rats and mice. In that regard they serve us well.
Wow, I wish it was so, Bob, but the coyote was introduced in the 60’s, why or what the motive was, one will never know, the coyote eats anything that moves in the woods, the snowshoe rabbit a favorite, they eat the hair, hide, bones, they can digest a skidder, the coyote does not serve us well. Times are tough, put a bounty on cayote, I bet the population would go down. Well anyway so long Bob, I am not sure we could agree on what time it is, good luck.
I have seen loons feeding on baby ducks also. Anyway, were the fish safer to eat back then or was nobody checking for mercury levels? The state is rumored to have introduced coyotes , which would not surprise me. Man seems unable to meddle with nature without frigging things up royally, like damming the rivers and not building working fishways, then wondering why the salmon disappeared.
I do not know about the mercury levels then, but the paper company, St. Regis, Champion, and maybe Verso kept acidity records of the water they took into the mill for manufacturing and the acidity began to go off the charts in the 70’snd 80’s, and the fish population began to falter. I think it somewhere affects the food chain, one or two links are interupted. Back to the coyote, the snowshoe rabbit used to cycle in 7 or 9 year cycles, over population, to low levels, this is way back, in the 50’s, I have seen it, there are no cycles now, just no bunnies to speak of. But enroncrooks you have a good line on the wildlife and fish problems, you understand it.
If I read this correctly, this story is based on 2009 information and statistics, is it not?
My query is, how do you think the eagle will fare or have fared as Maine constructs more wind mills ?
Will the state fine and throw in jail the owners of the wind farms? Should be quite a fine and possible jail terms, since they’ll be repeat offenders!
Where are the conservationist and environmentalist?
This is not a joke !
No, it’s not a joke. Especially the high mercury levels in our waters and the fact that every industrial wind turbine guarantees continued high levels of pollutants in our air and water as the wind “farms” sell REC’s to polluting industries so that they can keep polluting our air and water. We need to clean up our act for real. Mandating cleaner emissions on all coal fired plants is a good start. Eliminating the industrial wind machines on our mountain tops s is another. Both will help our environment and our eagle population.
http://tinyurl.com/7t8pnfb
Baldaccis’ actions were not for the eagle, but to pave the way for his buddies who were planning to cover Maine with wind turbines. That is no secret now. The poor guy from Prentiss thought he was aiming at a turkey and accidentally killed an eagle. He got a year in jail!! If wind turbines kill 75-200 per year it is OK because they have a piece of paper which says so, An “incidental take variance” or something signed by the designated officials and legal in our twisted court system.