Each year Park Rangers conduct midwinter eagle surveys for the Black Warrior and Tombigbee Lakes. The survey is conducted as a part of a nationwide effort to monitor wintering eagle populations in the lower 48 states. The best time for eagle sightings, occur in the winter, when bald eagles migrate into our area from the north. These birds rely on open water areas for hunting and catching fish. Bald eagles often hunt or sit in pairs. They mate for life, although they will take on a new mate should the other die.
The American bald eagle was officially declared the National Emblem of the United States in 1782 by the Second Continental Congress. They were once common across the continental U.S. Biologists estimate that in the 1700’s, the population may have been as high as half a million birds. However, with the expansion of people across the lower 48 states, bald eagle numbers dropped steadily with the loss of habitat, contamination of waterways and food sources, and extensive use of pesticides on crops.
In 1967 the bald eagle was listed as “Endangered” in the lower 48 states and was strictly protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The protection and other conservation efforts paid off. On June 28, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from the Threatened Species List as the estimated number of nesting pairs in the lower 48 states reached nearly 10,000. Today, population estimates vary but bald eagle numbers are believed to between 80,000 to 100,000 birds, with about half living, breeding, and migrating throughout the lower 48 states.