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The eagle's comeback story is a cautionary tale

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published June 4, 2006

We've heard a lot of fuss lately about the state's plan to change the designation of the beloved manatee from an endangered to a threatened species.

Lost in that conversation is the bald eagle, which state wildlife officials want to remove from the list of the threatened.

For bird-watchers and casual nature lovers, this is a good news-bad news scenario.

If the bald eagle is no longer threatened, it suggests that the population has grown in sufficient numbers that the raptor can survive and thrive with less protection. That's the good news. But adjusting the bird's status clearly sends the wrong message.

"Birds of prey need all the protection they can get," says Jamie White, a wildlife rehabilitator in Citrus County who rehabbed 85 injured raptors last year. Most of the birds White saw were hawks; eagles are much rarer but not nearly as rare as they once were.

The bald eagle is an environmental success story. The bird has bounced back from generations of persecution and pesticide contamination thanks to timely federal and state intervention.

Between the early 1970s and early 1980s, when bald eagles were emerging from the effects of decades of DDT contamination, there were fewer than 400 pairs of eagles nesting in Florida.

Amazingly enough, by 1999, the number of nesting pairs of bald eagles in the state topped 1,000 for the first time. During the 2004- 2005 season, there were 1,133 active bald eagle nests in the state, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission study.

Unlike a lot of nuisance birds and animals that get begrudging federal and state protection, there is much about the bald eagle to like besides its appearance and the gracefulness of its flight.

It's our national symbol. Bald eagles are monogamous; they live about 15 to 20 years in the wild. Eagles nest in pairs and return to the same nest year after year. When the mate dies, the survivor goes and finds another mate but usually returns to the same nest. All very laudable traits.

Bald eagles are now common enough that even in places like Pasco County, you can see nesting bald eagles if you know where to look - such as along Baillie's Bluff Road near the gulf in Holiday. There's another bald eagle's nest just north of Salt Springs Run State Park.

Bald eagle nests also show up in the oddest places, according to Pasco County biologist Bob Tietz. For instance, in Pinellas County, a pair of bald eagles nest in a tree in the center of a golf course fairway. Another nest is right next to a Pinellas storage facility in the middle of the concrete jungle, said Tietz.

Eagles have shown that despite their distrust of humans they can co-exist with us. But that coexistence comes at a price. After all, we are the biggest threat to the bald eagle.

We bulldoze those stands of tall pine trees eagles use for nesting and degrade the lakes and ponds they need for fishing. Fewer places to nest and dirtier rivers can only hurt the growth of the state's bald eagle population.

Bald eagles also get hurt when they have coincidental contact with humans. It's hard to tell how many bald eagles are accidentally killed by humans, but based on documented deaths, bald eagles often die in the most painful ways - collisions with cars and trucks, gunshot wounds and even poisoning.

I know state regulators promise us that not much will change if the bald eagle isn't considered threatened anymore. But if people perceive the bald eagle's survival is no longer in doubt, they are apt to grow careless. That can only result in more dead eagles.

--Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 4, 2006, 01:17:19]