Bald eagles settle in U.S. winter locales

Thousands of bald eagles have gathered in their wintering haunts along the Mississippi and other rivers in the central United States.

About 3,100 eagles spend the winter in southern Illinois and 2,200 in Missouri, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Pere Marquette State Park, located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi about 30 miles north of St. Louis, is a major eagle sanctuary. Pam Warford, the park's assistant superintendent, said the park offers about 25 eagle-viewing tours in January and February. The tours, with a maximum of 60 people, are always booked up.

One big fan is H. Benton Woods, 81, who lives in near by Brighton, Ill., and likes to photograph the birds.

"They actually had to tell me I couldn't go on so many, so I cut back," Woods said.

The bald eagle came close to extinction in the continental United States because of hunting and thin-shelled eggs linked to the pesticide DDT. Since the 1970s, when DDT was banned, the birds have made a dramatic recovery, and biologists now believe at least 10,000 pairs nest in the lower 48 states.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Related stories:

New eagle crowding nesting eagle pair
A pair of bald eagles nesting in Virginia's Norfolk Botanical Garden are used to being visited by people, but now must deal with an interloping female eagle.
Black-footed ferrets released in Kansas
Twenty-four rare black-footed ferrets freed on private land in Kansas are believed to be the first of their kind in the area in more than 50 years.
Bald eagles may no longer be endangered
Experts say bald eagles are likely to be taken from the endangered species list as the U.S. government's Feb. 16 deadline for ruling on the birds approaches.
Bald Eagles no longer endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington announced the bald eagle will be officially taken off the endangered species list in February.
Indiana bald eagle recovery huge success
Indiana environmental experts say the Hoosier State is now home to 200 of the nation's bald eagles, just 21 years after they were considered nearly extinct.
Staghorn and elkhorn corals now protected
Caribbean elkhorn and staghorn corals Thursday were placed under the protection of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
First bald eagle chick in 50 years hatches
After years trying to bring bald eagles back to the Channel Islands, wildlife experts announced the first unaided hatching in more than 50 years.
Feds say eagles no longer are endangered
The U.S. government wants to remove eagles from the endangered species list, noting the population has gone from 413 breeding pairs in 1963 to 7,066 today.

News discussion:

General Science news