The bald eagle was threatened with extinction in the 1960s, as were many other top-of-the-food-chain raptors including the Osprey and Peregrine Falcon. Persistent pesticides, mostly DDT, habitat loss, and other problems created by humans, brought about these declines. Through decades of identifying and correcting problems, the enactment of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and captive breeding programs, these species were brought back from the brink of extinction.
The success and increasing populations of the Bald Eagle is proof positive of what many people working towards a common goal can achieve and showed that the Endangered Species Act works and is an incentive for increased awareness and conservation everywhere.
Bald Eagles have been increasing in all parts of their range, which is most of North America. They have always been abundant in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. On the Cape and Islands there are always at least a few individuals about, sometimes many more. As the eagle flies, the Cape and Islands is a fairly small area. The closest nesting pair of Bald Eagles is in southeastern Massachusetts and some 32 nests of Bald Eagles were known in the state last year. The first Cape Cod attempt, in far too long a time, may be in the offing, in the not too distant future.
Audio of The Weekly Bird Report posted above.
