Bald Eagles

More than 100 eagles migrate to the Upper Delaware each winter in search of open water, fresh and abundant fish and undisturbed habitat. When lakes and rivers freeze over in northern portions of the United States and Canada, bald eagles move southward to areas like the Upper Delaware river valley. It's estimated that at least 200 different eagles use the Delaware River for some period of time during the winter months. Depending on weather conditions, the eagles begin arriving in mid-December. By mid-March most eagles begin the return flight to their breeding areas located to the north. Though each year we find that there are more and more year round "resident" eagles staying in the Upper Delaware, building their nests and raising their young.

Life History of Bald Eagles

Bald eagles primarily eat fish. As a result, they typically build nests near water. However, if food is scarce, they are opportunistic feeders and will eat birds, small mammals, and carrion (dead animals).

Bald eagles normally mate for life but will secure other mates if one is lost. Both partners are involved with nest building and feeding the young. Females lay one to three eggs and incubate them for a period of 35 days. Eagle nests can be almost six feet in diameter, four feet deep, and weigh hundreds of pounds. Eagles continue to add to the next each year.

Young eagles remain in the nest for 3 months and are fully grown when they leave the nest (fledge). By 5 months, immature eagles leave the nesting area. Migratory immature eagles often will return to the general vicinity (within 200 miles) of where they were born when they reach maturity and are ready to find a mate of their own and build a nest.

A bald eagle can live in the wild for as long as 30 years.

Characteristics of Bald Eagles

The bald eagle is one of the largest birds in the Northeast. In profile, as it flies toward you, its wings are held straight out; the more common turkey vulture soars with its wings held in a V-shape. As the eagle passes overhead, the feathers at the tips of its wings are widely separated, and its relatively short tail is usually fanned open.

Although not common in the Upper Delaware region, the golden eagle is frequently mistaken for an immature bald eagle.

• Height: 30 inches

• Weight: 8-12 pounds

  • Males: 8-10 pounds

  • Females: 10-14 pounds

• Wing Span: 6-7 feet

• Feathers: Around 7000 (weighs about 21 onces)

• Appearance:

• Adult (5+ years): white head and tail, dark brown body and wings, bright orange-yellow beak and feet, lemon yellow iris (eye)

• Immature: Chocolate brown mottled with white, black beak that gradually lightens to a spotty horn color, dark brown iris that gradually lightens to pale yellow

• Females are generally larger than males, with a longer beak and longer back toe.

• Eyesight:

  • 8 to 10 times betters than a human

  • Able to see in color

• Flight:

  • 35 - 40 miles per hour in flight, at 100+ miles per hour in a dive

  • Can fly at heights of 10,000 feet

  • Can lift about 4 lbs.

Bald Eagle Conservation

Until recently, your chances of actually seeing an eagle along the Upper Delaware were slim. That has changed, thanks to recent cooperative efforts to improve environmental conditions and to re-establish the bald eagle in the eastern United States.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, more than 70 pairs of bald eagles nested in New York State year-round and hundreds of eagles would migrate to the state during the winter. However, by 1960 only a single active bald nest remained and the number of wintering bald eagles had fallen to less than a few dozen.

The decrease in eagles was due to a number of factors, including:

• Human competition for land and loss of eagle habitat.

• Widespread use of pesticides, especially DDT, which affected the thickness of eagle eggshells, reducing eagle egg survivability.

• Large numbers of eagles were killed indiscriminately prior to federal protection under the Bald Eagle Act of 1940.

The banning of DDT in 1972 and the implementation of new laws prohibiting the killing and injuring of eagles was a major step in helping restore bald eagle populations. Regionally, the Upper Delaware River has played an important role in this population growth. Both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) and Pennsylvania Game Commission created bald eagle restoration ("hacking") programs to increase bald eagle populations in their states.

Today, eagle populations have recovered largely due to intensive protection and restoration efforts. Although bald eagles were removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 2007, the bald eagle continues to be protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and biologists continue to monitor and track the progress of bald eagle populations.

Reporting Injured or Harassed Eagles

NY Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Diversity Unit

518-402-8883
625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754

Pennsylvania Game Commission Centralized Dispatch

1-833-742-9453 (1-833-PGC-WILD)

Discover Eagle Watching at Upper Delaware

With proper technique and planning, winter eagle-watching has become a popular off-season activity in the Upper Delaware Valley.The Delaware Highlands Conservancy works cooperatively with the National Park Service and with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to help visitors find and properly observe wintering eagles along the Upper Delaware River. The Upper Delaware River offers several eagle viewing spots where creeks and other rivers meet the Delaware.