Initiatives to improve Ohio’s water sources are being touted as one reason why the state is seeing a significant rise in its bald eagle population.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife announced a 14% increase in bald eagle nests from 2020 to 2021.
In addition to improving the state’s water quality, thus increasing the fish population as a food source for the bald eagle, Ohio has also eliminated the use of insecticides and pesticides, such as DDT.
“Getting that DDT flushed out of our ecosystem was really critical because the DDT caused the eggshells of the bald eagles to be too weak, and so the chicks would never make it to hatch,” Laura Kearns, a wildlife biologist, said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from the federal endangered species list in 2007.
ICYMI:
Great news for the bald eagle population in Ohio!
The latest findings from @ohiodnr show a 14% increase in nests across the state. https://t.co/4UuSNBljiB
— Karaline_Cohen (@Karaline_Cohen) April 12, 2022
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The latest wildlife report shows an 82% nesting success rate during the spring of 2021, resulting in an average of 1.6 eagles hatching per nest, which is above the 1.0 threshold needed to sustain the bird’s population.
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“They have a lot of personality. They have a lot of vocals,” Brazil Star, an avid bald eagle observer, said of the bald eagles. “If you listen to them, you can learn their language of when it’s danger, when their mate is coming in, when they’re hungry.”
