Exceptional year for Arizona's eagles

With the breeding season now over, Arizona can celebrate what's turning out to be an incredible year for the state's bald eagles. Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists confirm a record number of eagle breeding areas in the state, as well as a tie with the year 2004 for a record number of eaglets that lived to fledge, or begin flying, in Arizona.

"We are really excited at how this breeding season turned out," says James Driscoll, head of the Arizona Game and Fish Department Bald Eagle Management Program. "Forty-two eagle nestlings fledged this year, tying our previous record in this state."

Biologists also found three new bald eagle breeding areas, for a record total of 50. Every year, many eagle breeding areas that are located near popular recreation areas are closed for the breeding season, so the birds' breeding attempts won't be interrupted by human activity. On June 30, the last of these closures was lifted, at the end of a very successful breeding season.

"The success of the season can be partly credited to our fantastic nest watchers," says Kenneth "Tuk" Jacobson, an Arizona Game and Fish bald eagle biologist.

Every year, nest watchers camp out for four months to monitor eagle-breeding efforts in Arizona. The contractors spend dawn to dusk collecting data about the eagles' behavior and notifying rescuers of any life-threatening situations for the birds. Since the program began in 1978, it has helped to save the lives of almost 50 eaglets. This year alone, nest watchers helped to rescue and save four young eagles that otherwise might have died.

The bald eagle was federally listed as an endangered species in 1978. The birds have recovered enough to be listed now as a "threatened species."