Did you know that Florida leads the lower 48 states with its bald eagle population? With an estimated 1,500 nesting pairs, Florida has the largest amount of bald eagles in the contiguous United States. Though you may think of eagles as flying over the great plains or the west’s majestic mountains, it turns out that they love our flat lands and pine trees too. You can often find bald eagles nesting by lakes, rivers and coastal areas and their nests are dispersed throughout the state.
In 1782 when the bald eagle was made the symbol of America, there were 100,000 in the U.S. By 1963 there were only 487 left.
The Fish & Wildlife Commission began tracking the state’s eagle population in 1972, starting with only 88 nests. Due to the elimination of DDT and legal protections, the amount of breeding pairs has soared to over 15 times that amount in Florida, and rebounded throughout the United States. It is clearly a conservation success story.
Audobon has also been using citizens to monitor bald eagle nests for almost 30 years through its EagleWatch program. It currently monitors over 800 nests in 45 of Florida’s 67 counties.
For more information, click on the following links:
FWC Bald Eagle Website
US Fish & Wildlife Eagle Website