Breeding Eagles
Breeding Eagles
It is believed that the Delaware Highlands region is home to two distinct populations of the bald eagle. Breeding eagles stay throughout the year creating nests, and raising their young. The eagles that winter in the region from northerly points seeking accessible water, food sources as well as a safe and secure habitat.
Facts about breeding eagles
- Eagles will mate for the rest of their lives and stay in the same nesting territory each year.
- Eagles do not mat until they are sexually mature about 4 to 5 years old. It is also the time when they develop their heads and tails that are white.
- Eagles lay between 1 and 3 eggs.
- Incubation lasts for 35 days.
- The baby is close proximity to the nest for approximately 3 months.
- Each parent takes turns to hatch eggs, as well as feed and take care of the babies.
- The breeding season within the Upper Delaware River region can start as early as beginning of February. Most young ones are born before the The Fourth of July.
Breeding Eagles in the Delaware Highlands Region
during the 1800s and early 1900s New York was home to more than 70 nesting pairs of bald Eagles and was also the preferred wintering spot for hundreds. Similar conditions were also present in Pennsylvania. In 1960 New York had only one active bald-eagle nest left as well as the amount of winter visitors had decreased to a mere dozen.
It took years of uncontrolled killing as well as a rising competition for habitats and the extensive use of dangerous new chemicals to almost end the lives of the bald eagles in the area. In the same way that the human activities were disrupting and more habitats for eagles, DDT and other organochlorine chemicals were contaminating predators and becoming a part of the body of eagles, with the unintentional effect in thinning eggshells to the point that they couldn’t continue to remain viable during incubation.
How Bald Eagles Returned to the Region
The two states of New York and Pennsylvania imported young birds from other states and raised them until independence (a procedure called hacking). The the state of New York’s Bald Eagle Restoration Project, biologists gathered the nesting bald eagles of 198, majority of them from Alaska. Between 1976 and 1988, they transferred the eagles to habitats that were suitable for them within New York, provided food as they adapted to their new habitat and then released them once they could fly.
The eagles that were hacking thrived in the wild, and eventually returned back to New York to nest and breed. In 1989 the hacking venture had achieved its goal of creating 10 breeding pairs and then was terminated. The year 2006 saw NYS DEC reported 112 pairs of bald eagles. This is the first time more than 100 breeding pairs of breeding baldeagles has been documented on the continent of New York, ever. This is a 20% increase over the previous year. For 2008 NYS DEC reported 145 nesting pairs of baldeagles.
Through the Pennsylvania’s Restoration Program, 92 young Eagles were released at two locations, as well as in nests for foster birds. These releases in the 1980s were the first steps of an eagle population that has responded in increasing numbers.
Young eagles released from the PA Game Commission settled in the state , and were confirmed as that they were nesting within Tioga, Butler, Dauphin, Pike, and probably in other counties, too. Since 1986, the number of nests of baldeagles in Pennsylvania has grown or, at the very least, remained constant. In average 15 per cent more nests have been observed every year since the year 1990. In 2008, more than 150 pairs of eagles had been nesting in 42 of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania. The increase and recovery in the population of this bird is nothing short of breathtaking across the birds’ geographical range.
A Regional Effort
Since neighboring states like New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio all took part in a project to reintroduce released eagles from their respective states, the cumulative effect resulted in a plethora of youngsters who considered this region their as their home. As they grew older the majority of them came back to their home region and built nests.
Eagles don’t pay any consideration to boundaries or division lines! For the Eagle to be a soaring bird, it is the Delaware River is a natural resource that unites rather than creates a divide in the ecosystem.
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Monitoring the Breeding Eagles
It is reported that the NYS DEC is now tagging fledglings that are born in New York State nests with solar-powered transmitters. Through observing the fledglings who have been tagged, DEC learns: location of home ranges, how birds move around the landscape in their initial dispersal from nests and later, how many young birds live the journey; variations in movement important habitats, nesting site selection among nestmates and genders as well as between nestlings from nests in neighboring nests. The New York Eagle Program includes an intensive search to confirm the existence of new breeding pairs, and surveillance of breeding pairs of the bald eagle. The staff of the program try to verify each report of adult eagles throughout the season of nesting and to find or verify any nests that have been discovered and to go to every known nesting site throughout the state. Eagle Institute Eagle Institute assists in this initiative by providing data from nest observations and sightings.
Eagle Institute Eagle Institute also helps the Pennsylvania Game Commission as it is responsible for monitoring nests of bald eagleswhether they are new or established to track the trends in nesting populations. Volunteers are able to provide vital information about adult eagles, nesting habits of the young along with any issues that occur. Since 1990 more than 500 eagles have fledged out of Pennsylvania nests. In recent times, there have been more than 100 eagles each year that fled away from Pennsylvania nests.
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