4:09 AM, May. 14, 2011
The more you go out there, the more you will see. It's a matter of playing the odds. The odds of encountering a bald eagle at 50 feet? Not so good, if you go out one time. If you go out 1,000, or 10,000 maybe, at least you just might get a shot.
I'm in that 10,000 group to be sure. And by sheer repetition, I'd actually seen a bald eagle that close on one occasion before getting lucky again late last week.
The first up-close sighting took place in a kayak, when I floated near the riverbank underneath a low-hanging tree branch. Oblivious to the fact a bald eagle perched on it, I practically capsized when the eagle took off right above me.
Fast forward three years to a fine sunny morning this May. I am walking a path 50 yards from the banks of the Chenango, a river I love. I'm not thinking bald eagles. I'm not thinking at all. I am sniffing the air. I am seeking wildflowers. I am listening for vireos singing their spring breeding songs.
A wetland pool by the trail also gets my attention. I scan fallen logs jutting out of the water, hoping turtles have clambered up on them to bask in the sun. I've also seen wood ducks here. I've seen herons and plenty of frogs.
So much to sense and drink in on this morning. Not much room for a thought of bald eagles. But wait. What is that, 40 yards up the trail, in a spruce at the edge of the wetland? Reflecting the sun, like a brand new softball, a disc of bright white offsets deep green spruce needles, on a branch 15 feet up the tree.
It cannot be, can it? It most certainly can — that softball is a bald eagle's head. Viewed through binoculars, it looks wet from a recent downpour. But the sun blazes down. Not a raindrop in sight. Has the eagle just dived for a fish or a duck in the pool?
That question, once posed, swirls around me like thick river fog. "Perhaps," is the answer, but whatever took place several minutes before takes a back seat to what happens now. I can't turn around. I must walk toward the eagle if I want to return to my car. And the eagle will fly when I take my first steps. They don't let people walk up to see them.
So much for what usually happens. Next thing I know, I am standing directly across the small pool from the eagle. Thirty yards away, the snoozing bird barely can keep its eyes open. I watch while that white head, magnified through field glasses, morphs from a softball to beach ball in size.
Last year in New York, 173 breeding pairs of bald eagles produced 244 young. A fair number of those birds fledged here in Central New York. Take a walk by a river, a wetland, a lake. The odds just might be in your favor.
Marsi is a freelance writer from Vestal. E-mail him at rmarsi@stny.rr.com
http://www.stargazette.com/article/20110515/LIFE12/105150311/Great-Outdoors-Bald-eagle-sighting-worth-odds?odyssey=nav|head
Showing posts with label eagles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eagles. Show all posts
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Dark Steller's sea eagle solves 100 year debate
Monday, 27 September 2010
By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
A giant bird living in Germany has settled debate over the existence of a huge, dark species of sea eagle.
For over a century, experts questioned whether two Steller's sea eagle species exist: one with white feathers and a darker one.
But a dark, captive Steller's sea eagle in a Berlin zoo, the only living bird of its kind, has solved the mystery.
Born to white feathered parents, the dark Steller's sea eagle confirms they are two variants of the same species.
The Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is the heaviest of all eagles, and it usually has brown and white plumage, sporting white feathers along the wings, legs and tail.
However, a different, dark form of the Steller's sea eagle was first described as a separate species (H. niger) in 1887. It had brown feathers all over except for a white tail.
Ornithologists suspected this darker Steller's sea eagle bred in Korea.
But few authenticated records exist, leading many to presume its extinction.
The last known dark Steller's sea eagle sighted in the wild was in 1968, and no dark specimen has been held in captivity since the start of the 20th Century.
Since these sightings, debate has continued as to whether the dark Steller's sea eagle is a separate species, subspecies or just a colour variant of the usual bird.
Most interested experts believe the latter, but no proof existed.
That was until the appearance of a dark Steller's sea eagle in Tierpark zoo, Berlin.
It wasn't until the Steller's sea eagle moulted into its adult plumage that the Tierpark's Curator of Birds, Dr Martin Kaiser, realised what a rarity it was.
"It's really a surprise if you suddenly have a bird which was considered extinct and not observed for about half a century neither in the wild nor in captivity," says Dr Kaiser.
The eagle moulted into its adult plumage this year with only a white tail, making it the only known living bird of its kind.
The rare female was the product of artificial insemination at a falconry in Bavaria, Germany.
It arrived at Berlin's Tierpark in 2001 after being foster-reared by two American bald eagles at Nuremburg Zoo.
Crucially, its actual parents were wild birds, caught in Russia in the 1980s and both displayed the familiar white shoulder, leg and rump feathers.
"Both the parents of the dark female in Tierpark Berlin show the normal coloured plumage with white shoulders and rump," says Dr Kaiser.
"This is the evidence that it is a colour phase only... [For the female to] be a subspecies the parents must be also dark coloured."
As the offspring of two white-marked birds, the Tierpark's female provides the first evidence that the dark plumage is not species specific, and that the dark eagles do not exist as a species in their own right.
The fact that the parents came from Russia also proves that dark forms of the eagle are not restricted to Korea.
Dr Kaiser's findings are published in the Journal of Ornithology.
The Steller's sea eagle is one of the world's largest eagles and certainly the heaviest weighing up to 9kg.
Competition for the top title comes from the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) of South-East Asia; the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) of Africa and the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), of North and South America.
There are approximately 5,000 Steller's sea eagles in the wild, predominantly found in north-eastern Asia, breeding around the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
The giant birds make their nests along Russia's Pacific coast close to their preferred salmon feeding grounds.
Their distinctive large yellow bills are perfect for ripping flesh and stealing food from other eagles.
The IUCN list of endangered animals describes the sea eagles as vulnerable with a declining population under threat from habitat destruction and over-fishing.
Each winter many migrate to the Japanese islands of Hokkaido where they are known as O-Washi, and protected as a species of national importance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9036000/9036698.stm
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
A giant bird living in Germany has settled debate over the existence of a huge, dark species of sea eagle.
For over a century, experts questioned whether two Steller's sea eagle species exist: one with white feathers and a darker one.
But a dark, captive Steller's sea eagle in a Berlin zoo, the only living bird of its kind, has solved the mystery.
Born to white feathered parents, the dark Steller's sea eagle confirms they are two variants of the same species.
The Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is the heaviest of all eagles, and it usually has brown and white plumage, sporting white feathers along the wings, legs and tail.
However, a different, dark form of the Steller's sea eagle was first described as a separate species (H. niger) in 1887. It had brown feathers all over except for a white tail.
Ornithologists suspected this darker Steller's sea eagle bred in Korea.
But few authenticated records exist, leading many to presume its extinction.
The last known dark Steller's sea eagle sighted in the wild was in 1968, and no dark specimen has been held in captivity since the start of the 20th Century.
Since these sightings, debate has continued as to whether the dark Steller's sea eagle is a separate species, subspecies or just a colour variant of the usual bird.
Most interested experts believe the latter, but no proof existed.
That was until the appearance of a dark Steller's sea eagle in Tierpark zoo, Berlin.
It wasn't until the Steller's sea eagle moulted into its adult plumage that the Tierpark's Curator of Birds, Dr Martin Kaiser, realised what a rarity it was.
"It's really a surprise if you suddenly have a bird which was considered extinct and not observed for about half a century neither in the wild nor in captivity," says Dr Kaiser.
The eagle moulted into its adult plumage this year with only a white tail, making it the only known living bird of its kind.
The rare female was the product of artificial insemination at a falconry in Bavaria, Germany.
It arrived at Berlin's Tierpark in 2001 after being foster-reared by two American bald eagles at Nuremburg Zoo.
Crucially, its actual parents were wild birds, caught in Russia in the 1980s and both displayed the familiar white shoulder, leg and rump feathers.
"Both the parents of the dark female in Tierpark Berlin show the normal coloured plumage with white shoulders and rump," says Dr Kaiser.
"This is the evidence that it is a colour phase only... [For the female to] be a subspecies the parents must be also dark coloured."
As the offspring of two white-marked birds, the Tierpark's female provides the first evidence that the dark plumage is not species specific, and that the dark eagles do not exist as a species in their own right.
The fact that the parents came from Russia also proves that dark forms of the eagle are not restricted to Korea.
Dr Kaiser's findings are published in the Journal of Ornithology.
The Steller's sea eagle is one of the world's largest eagles and certainly the heaviest weighing up to 9kg.
Competition for the top title comes from the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) of South-East Asia; the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) of Africa and the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), of North and South America.
There are approximately 5,000 Steller's sea eagles in the wild, predominantly found in north-eastern Asia, breeding around the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
The giant birds make their nests along Russia's Pacific coast close to their preferred salmon feeding grounds.
Their distinctive large yellow bills are perfect for ripping flesh and stealing food from other eagles.
The IUCN list of endangered animals describes the sea eagles as vulnerable with a declining population under threat from habitat destruction and over-fishing.
Each winter many migrate to the Japanese islands of Hokkaido where they are known as O-Washi, and protected as a species of national importance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9036000/9036698.stm
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
Dark Steller's sea eagle solves 100 year debate
Monday, 27 September 2010
By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
A giant bird living in Germany has settled debate over the existence of a huge, dark species of sea eagle.
For over a century, experts questioned whether two Steller's sea eagle species exist: one with white feathers and a darker one.
But a dark, captive Steller's sea eagle in a Berlin zoo, the only living bird of its kind, has solved the mystery.
Born to white feathered parents, the dark Steller's sea eagle confirms they are two variants of the same species.
The Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is the heaviest of all eagles, and it usually has brown and white plumage, sporting white feathers along the wings, legs and tail.
However, a different, dark form of the Steller's sea eagle was first described as a separate species (H. niger) in 1887. It had brown feathers all over except for a white tail.
Ornithologists suspected this darker Steller's sea eagle bred in Korea.
But few authenticated records exist, leading many to presume its extinction.
The last known dark Steller's sea eagle sighted in the wild was in 1968, and no dark specimen has been held in captivity since the start of the 20th Century.
Since these sightings, debate has continued as to whether the dark Steller's sea eagle is a separate species, subspecies or just a colour variant of the usual bird.
Most interested experts believe the latter, but no proof existed.
That was until the appearance of a dark Steller's sea eagle in Tierpark zoo, Berlin.
It wasn't until the Steller's sea eagle moulted into its adult plumage that the Tierpark's Curator of Birds, Dr Martin Kaiser, realised what a rarity it was.
"It's really a surprise if you suddenly have a bird which was considered extinct and not observed for about half a century neither in the wild nor in captivity," says Dr Kaiser.
The eagle moulted into its adult plumage this year with only a white tail, making it the only known living bird of its kind.
The rare female was the product of artificial insemination at a falconry in Bavaria, Germany.
It arrived at Berlin's Tierpark in 2001 after being foster-reared by two American bald eagles at Nuremburg Zoo.
Crucially, its actual parents were wild birds, caught in Russia in the 1980s and both displayed the familiar white shoulder, leg and rump feathers.
"Both the parents of the dark female in Tierpark Berlin show the normal coloured plumage with white shoulders and rump," says Dr Kaiser.
"This is the evidence that it is a colour phase only... [For the female to] be a subspecies the parents must be also dark coloured."
As the offspring of two white-marked birds, the Tierpark's female provides the first evidence that the dark plumage is not species specific, and that the dark eagles do not exist as a species in their own right.
The fact that the parents came from Russia also proves that dark forms of the eagle are not restricted to Korea.
Dr Kaiser's findings are published in the Journal of Ornithology.
The Steller's sea eagle is one of the world's largest eagles and certainly the heaviest weighing up to 9kg.
Competition for the top title comes from the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) of South-East Asia; the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) of Africa and the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), of North and South America.
There are approximately 5,000 Steller's sea eagles in the wild, predominantly found in north-eastern Asia, breeding around the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
The giant birds make their nests along Russia's Pacific coast close to their preferred salmon feeding grounds.
Their distinctive large yellow bills are perfect for ripping flesh and stealing food from other eagles.
The IUCN list of endangered animals describes the sea eagles as vulnerable with a declining population under threat from habitat destruction and over-fishing.
Each winter many migrate to the Japanese islands of Hokkaido where they are known as O-Washi, and protected as a species of national importance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9036000/9036698.stm
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
A giant bird living in Germany has settled debate over the existence of a huge, dark species of sea eagle.
For over a century, experts questioned whether two Steller's sea eagle species exist: one with white feathers and a darker one.
But a dark, captive Steller's sea eagle in a Berlin zoo, the only living bird of its kind, has solved the mystery.
Born to white feathered parents, the dark Steller's sea eagle confirms they are two variants of the same species.
The Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is the heaviest of all eagles, and it usually has brown and white plumage, sporting white feathers along the wings, legs and tail.
However, a different, dark form of the Steller's sea eagle was first described as a separate species (H. niger) in 1887. It had brown feathers all over except for a white tail.
Ornithologists suspected this darker Steller's sea eagle bred in Korea.
But few authenticated records exist, leading many to presume its extinction.
The last known dark Steller's sea eagle sighted in the wild was in 1968, and no dark specimen has been held in captivity since the start of the 20th Century.
Since these sightings, debate has continued as to whether the dark Steller's sea eagle is a separate species, subspecies or just a colour variant of the usual bird.
Most interested experts believe the latter, but no proof existed.
That was until the appearance of a dark Steller's sea eagle in Tierpark zoo, Berlin.
It wasn't until the Steller's sea eagle moulted into its adult plumage that the Tierpark's Curator of Birds, Dr Martin Kaiser, realised what a rarity it was.
"It's really a surprise if you suddenly have a bird which was considered extinct and not observed for about half a century neither in the wild nor in captivity," says Dr Kaiser.
The eagle moulted into its adult plumage this year with only a white tail, making it the only known living bird of its kind.
The rare female was the product of artificial insemination at a falconry in Bavaria, Germany.
It arrived at Berlin's Tierpark in 2001 after being foster-reared by two American bald eagles at Nuremburg Zoo.
Crucially, its actual parents were wild birds, caught in Russia in the 1980s and both displayed the familiar white shoulder, leg and rump feathers.
"Both the parents of the dark female in Tierpark Berlin show the normal coloured plumage with white shoulders and rump," says Dr Kaiser.
"This is the evidence that it is a colour phase only... [For the female to] be a subspecies the parents must be also dark coloured."
As the offspring of two white-marked birds, the Tierpark's female provides the first evidence that the dark plumage is not species specific, and that the dark eagles do not exist as a species in their own right.
The fact that the parents came from Russia also proves that dark forms of the eagle are not restricted to Korea.
Dr Kaiser's findings are published in the Journal of Ornithology.
The Steller's sea eagle is one of the world's largest eagles and certainly the heaviest weighing up to 9kg.
Competition for the top title comes from the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) of South-East Asia; the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) of Africa and the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), of North and South America.
There are approximately 5,000 Steller's sea eagles in the wild, predominantly found in north-eastern Asia, breeding around the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
The giant birds make their nests along Russia's Pacific coast close to their preferred salmon feeding grounds.
Their distinctive large yellow bills are perfect for ripping flesh and stealing food from other eagles.
The IUCN list of endangered animals describes the sea eagles as vulnerable with a declining population under threat from habitat destruction and over-fishing.
Each winter many migrate to the Japanese islands of Hokkaido where they are known as O-Washi, and protected as a species of national importance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9036000/9036698.stm
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
An eagle expedition
Lilydale, Minn. — Every year, ecologists with climbing gear scramble to the tops of trees in Minnesota and Wisconsin to gather baby eagles from their nests. They're testing the eaglets for a variety of chemicals, including DDT, the one that nearly wiped out the eagle population decades ago.
By all accounts, the eagle population in this part of the world is doing very well. But the researchers are still finding plenty of chemicals in the blood of baby eagles. To find out more, we tagged along on one of those research expeditions.
National Park Service ecologist Bill Route and his crew are searching national park lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin, looking for eagle nests.
He points to a big old cottonwood tree, right at the edge of the Mississippi River in Lilydale Regional Park, across from Fort Snelling.
"It's that tree right there, kind of leaning over. It's hard to see, shrouded in all those leaves there," Route said.
Two budding biologists are using a cross-bow to shoot climbing ropes over a branch just above a nest.
"I think they have their first line fixed, so that means he's been successful at finding the right limb he wants to climb," Route says.
The climber hoists himself gracefully up the rope; then he disappears for awhile in the leaves.
The eagles in this popular park seem pretty calm about people. One soars in a wide circle above the nest, clucking mild disapproval at the intruders.
Spotting the eagle's nest"Some pairs squawk a lot and make a lot of noise, but they never dive-bomb onto the climbers," said Route. "Other parents will just go to a tree nearby and just sit there and sulk at us."
The climber found three chicks in the nest, and now each one is tucked into a bag hanging from his belt.
The climbers carry the captives to dry land, where a dozen or so birders and park officials have gathered to watch.
They weigh the birds while they're still in the bags. Then they set the youngsters down on small canvas tarps to band them.
They take measurements that suggest these creatures are roughly seven weeks old. They're about the size of a newborn human baby, and they're quite calm.
They pant a little in the heat, and glare at their handlers with steady dark eyes. Their feathers are a little scruffy, and one of them smells like dead fish.
"Now we're going to do the most important sample, the blood sample," said Route.
The researchers are looking for six types of contaminants -- lead and mercury, DDT and dioxin, and a couple of newer chemicals.
DDT, the pesticide that was banned in the U.S. in 1972, has been declining steadily over the last 25 years. But Bill Route says it's still found occasionally in eagles' blood. DDT is still used in many places, including South America.
"It may be the prey they're getting from South America -- maybe migratory birds that are coming up, and they have [DDT] in their systems, they're preying on them; they're getting it in their systems."
Route says the ban on lead pellets in shotguns has helped reduce lead poisoning, but eagles are still poisoned by lead from fishing tackle.
And then there are the new chemicals, like flame retardants. Route says in the first part of this decade, the flame retardant chemicals found in eagles' blood doubled. But recently Europe and some states have banned certain formulations, and those chemicals immediately began to decline.
"But there's 170 formulations of flame retardants, so it's pretty hard for us to keep up with," he said.
They're also checking for perfluorinated chemicals, like the stain-resistant and heat-resistant products once made by 3M. Traces of those products spiked in eagles five years ago, but they've been declining quickly since 3M stopped making them.
These new chemicals don't have the outright lethal effect that DDT had on eagle populations. But Bill Route says they may have subtle effects, especially because there's so many of them.
"So it could be these eagles or other animals -- or ourselves -- just aren't functioning quite the way we could be if it wasn't that we have a number of chemicals in our system affecting our neurology, affecting our endocrine system," said Route. "And I think there's lot of linkages that are tantalizing but not exactly smoking guns yet."
The population of eagles along the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area is growing more than 10 percent each year. And that includes the three baby eagles returned to their nest after their adventure with the scientists.
By Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio
By all accounts, the eagle population in this part of the world is doing very well. But the researchers are still finding plenty of chemicals in the blood of baby eagles. To find out more, we tagged along on one of those research expeditions.
National Park Service ecologist Bill Route and his crew are searching national park lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin, looking for eagle nests.
He points to a big old cottonwood tree, right at the edge of the Mississippi River in Lilydale Regional Park, across from Fort Snelling.
"It's that tree right there, kind of leaning over. It's hard to see, shrouded in all those leaves there," Route said.
Two budding biologists are using a cross-bow to shoot climbing ropes over a branch just above a nest.
"I think they have their first line fixed, so that means he's been successful at finding the right limb he wants to climb," Route says.
The climber hoists himself gracefully up the rope; then he disappears for awhile in the leaves.
The eagles in this popular park seem pretty calm about people. One soars in a wide circle above the nest, clucking mild disapproval at the intruders.
Spotting the eagle's nest"Some pairs squawk a lot and make a lot of noise, but they never dive-bomb onto the climbers," said Route. "Other parents will just go to a tree nearby and just sit there and sulk at us."
The climber found three chicks in the nest, and now each one is tucked into a bag hanging from his belt.
The climbers carry the captives to dry land, where a dozen or so birders and park officials have gathered to watch.
They weigh the birds while they're still in the bags. Then they set the youngsters down on small canvas tarps to band them.
They take measurements that suggest these creatures are roughly seven weeks old. They're about the size of a newborn human baby, and they're quite calm.
They pant a little in the heat, and glare at their handlers with steady dark eyes. Their feathers are a little scruffy, and one of them smells like dead fish.
"Now we're going to do the most important sample, the blood sample," said Route.
The researchers are looking for six types of contaminants -- lead and mercury, DDT and dioxin, and a couple of newer chemicals.
DDT, the pesticide that was banned in the U.S. in 1972, has been declining steadily over the last 25 years. But Bill Route says it's still found occasionally in eagles' blood. DDT is still used in many places, including South America.
"It may be the prey they're getting from South America -- maybe migratory birds that are coming up, and they have [DDT] in their systems, they're preying on them; they're getting it in their systems."
Route says the ban on lead pellets in shotguns has helped reduce lead poisoning, but eagles are still poisoned by lead from fishing tackle.
And then there are the new chemicals, like flame retardants. Route says in the first part of this decade, the flame retardant chemicals found in eagles' blood doubled. But recently Europe and some states have banned certain formulations, and those chemicals immediately began to decline.
"But there's 170 formulations of flame retardants, so it's pretty hard for us to keep up with," he said.
They're also checking for perfluorinated chemicals, like the stain-resistant and heat-resistant products once made by 3M. Traces of those products spiked in eagles five years ago, but they've been declining quickly since 3M stopped making them.
These new chemicals don't have the outright lethal effect that DDT had on eagle populations. But Bill Route says they may have subtle effects, especially because there's so many of them.
"So it could be these eagles or other animals -- or ourselves -- just aren't functioning quite the way we could be if it wasn't that we have a number of chemicals in our system affecting our neurology, affecting our endocrine system," said Route. "And I think there's lot of linkages that are tantalizing but not exactly smoking guns yet."
The population of eagles along the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area is growing more than 10 percent each year. And that includes the three baby eagles returned to their nest after their adventure with the scientists.
By Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio
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