EagleWatch volunteers Gloria Green and Dr. Wei-Shen Chin monitor two Bald Eagle nests in the town of Oakland, a small municipality in West Orange County. Between the two nests, five eaglets hatched this season — but this month, two of those eaglets died after becoming tangled in discarded plastic waste, and another two are undergoing rehabilitation at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. Green and Dr. Chin are reminding the public to responsibly dispose of trash, especially fishing line and plastic mesh, in an effort to prevent another bird from meeting the same fate.
Being an EagleWatch volunteer involves checking on an assigned nest at least once a week during the October-May nesting season, using binoculars or long-lens cameras to determine if babies are hatching, thriving, and — at this time of the season — fledging. If an eaglet is in distress, EagleWatch volunteers are often the ones to sound the alarm, calling the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey’s rescue team to bring the bird to safety, but volunteers cannot have eyes on their nests at all times, and concerned community members often report injured birds on their own properties. All rescued eaglets are brought to the Center’s Raptor Trauma Clinic or a partnering rehabilitator for an exam and any necessary treatment before hopefully being returned to the wild. To date, the Center for Birds of Prey has released nearly 800 Bald Eagles back to the wild.
Three Rescues, Three Different Outcomes
The first two weeks of April were busy at the Oakland nests. After a storm, staff at a nearby auto repair shop noticed a fallen eaglet wandering on the ground and called the Center for Birds of Prey hotline for help. Volunteers Dana and Holly Powell arrived to bring the eaglet to the Center, where it is currently in rehab.
A week later, a second eaglet from the same nest was found on the ground, tangled in green construction plastic. Volunteer Beth George transported the bird to the Raptor Trauma Clinic, but the injuries were so severe that it had to be humanely euthanized.
Dr. Chin was checking on another nest near Oakland Park when he noticed an eaglet appeared to be in distress. He called Green, who arrived on the scene just before the eaglet fell from the nest, dangling by fishing line tangled around its feet. Slowly, it dropped into the thick brush below the nest. When rescuers reached the eaglet, the fishing line had nearly severed its leg, and it could not be saved.
As Green and Dr. Chin were reeling from the back-to-back rescues at their monitored nests, a fourth eaglet fell into the thick underbrush and spent a night there before rescuers could reach it. What started as a promising nesting season, with five eaglets thriving across two nests, is coming to an end with just one eaglet left unharmed. Green says she has never experienced such a tough season in her years monitoring nests for EagleWatch.
Brought Back from the Brink of Extinction, Bald Eagles Still Face Threats
Bald Eagles are a conservation success story: After the pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, their population grew by more than 300%. In 2007, Bald Eagles were removed from the Endangered Species List, and just last year, they were officially named the national bird of the United States. But like all birds, Bald Eagles are at risk of harm due in part to habitat loss, which leads to territory fights, competition for resources, and more interaction with the human world: car strikes, poisoning, electrocution, and entanglement in fishing line and other waste.
How You Can Help
The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey treats more than 700 injured, sick, and orphaned raptors each year, and baby season — the spring months when babies hatch and fledge — is the busiest time of year. Our needs for medication, food, and other supplies triple during baby season as we care for the increased patient load. Please consider making a donation from our wish list to offset the cost of caring for baby raptors.
