Bald eagle events planned in area in January, February

Jan. 7—In December, the bald eagle got some respect.

It officially became the country’s national bird when President Joe Biden signed a bill giving it that honor.

In January and February, there will be a chance to see the official national bird at eagle-viewing events in the region.

Although Congress made the bald eagle the central figure of the Great Seal of the United States in 1782 and it is on everything from the U.S. Capitol dome to currency, the eagle for a long time was not a protected bird and was often shot on sight, seen as a predator.

In his book “The Bald Eagle,” environmental historian Jack Davis wrote that “no animal in American history, certainly no avian one, has in the same extreme been the simultaneous object of reverence and recrimination. For centuries, eagles risked their lives flying across American skies.”

According to Davis, the bird was twice on a flight path to extinction.

The first was in the latter half of the 19th century — part of the slaughter of wildlife that nearly erased the bison and did wipe out two other birds that were once common in Missouri, the Carolina parakeet and the passenger pigeon.

By 1890, bald eagles were nearly eliminated as nesters in Missouri, according to Janet Haslerig, avian ecologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The second was in the mid-20th century, with the use of the insecticide DDT.

By 1963, the bald eagle population was reduced to only 487 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states, according to Haslerig.

With the banning of DDT and other protections, including listing as an endangered species in 1978 in most of the Lower 48 states, eagles have recovered. According to Haslerig, from 1981 to 1990, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, released 74 young bald eagles in Missouri to help reestablish them as nesters. Many of those were released at the Schell-Osage Conservation Area near Nevada, and others at the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Poplar Bluff.

As a result, the federal government removed the bald eagle from the endangered species list in 2007. It remains protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection acts, and Haslerig said it remains a species of conservation concern in Missouri.

Haslerig said it is unlikely that nesting pairs were extirpated from the state at their low point in the 1960s, and a few may have hung on, but seeing one was a rare treat.

Today, because of laws and conservation efforts, the latest estimate she has is that there are 607 nesting pairs in Missouri — more than in the entire Lower 48 in the 1960s.

“That means that adults were observed on the nest, or eagles were observed, or eggs were observed in the nest,” she said.

She also said waterfowl surveys in Missouri have found the wintering population — eagles that migrate into Missouri in late fall and stick around through early spring — range from 1,200 to as many as 3,700.

She also said golden eagles are observed in the state too, but there are no known nesting pairs.

Haslerig called Biden’s action “long overdue,” and said it “elevated (the bald eagle) to its rightful place that we all assumed it was already.”

Eagle-viewing events

—From 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 and Feb. 1, at Roaring River State Park south of Cassville.

Visitors can stop by the historic lodge anytime late in the afternoon to participate in eagle-themed crafts and activities. Spotting scopes and binoculars will be available to help locate eagles, and warm beverages will be available. This program is free and open to the public, and there is no need to register. For more information, call the park office at 417-847-2539.

—From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center, 4601 S. Nature Center Way in Springfield.

This event includes the indoor presence of a live bald eagle from Dickerson Park Zoo. Programs will be held at the Nature Center every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Opportunities to view bald eagles in the wild, with the assistance of volunteers and spotting scopes, will be available at the Lake Springfield Boathouse and Marina during event hours. No registration is required. For more information, call 418-888-4237.

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