Bald eagle populations soar in Pacific Northwest

by Dave Ward | January 20, 2007 at 11:04 pm

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The bald eagle, which teetered at the brink of extinction in the 1970s, is making a record comeback along the Skagit River in northwestern Washington State.

"At first I thought it was a mistake," said Jim Alt, a bald-eagle expert for the Nature Conservancy, who tallied 580 birds in an 11.5-mile stretch of the river on Jan. 3. That's up from the previous peak of 477 eagles in the same area during the winter of 1991-92.

While biologists scratch their heads — the cause of the eagle boom is unclear, though it could be a combination of weather and abundant food — the glory of the presence of so many eagles is beyond debate.

In the 1970s the pesticide DDT traveled up the food chain. When it reached bald eagles, it had a catastrophic effect, causing eagles' egg shells to become thin and fragile. Populations plummeted, and the bald eagle was placed on the United States' endangered species list. DDT was banned, and naturalists and conservationists set up special programs to protect and care for eagles.

Bald eagle populations have gradually but persistently climbed since the 1980s. The abundance of eagles along the Skagit River -- and the frequency of sightings all around the Pacific Northwest -- is certainly great news for a species which came so near to extinction.