By Nick Simonson

For more than two decades, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) has enlisted the help of citizen wildlife watchers in tracking active bald eagle nests throughout the state.  Through the process, the agency has watched a fledgling population of these once endangered birds grow to be present across the Peace Garden State, and have active nesting sites in nearly every county, according to Sandra Johnson, NDG&F Conservation Biologist.

“We’ve been tracking bald eagle nesting populations since the early 2000s, when we only had about a dozen that were known in the state.  It’s just something we’ve done over the years, and we’ve built up a database and have been able to monitor how the eagles have expanded,” Johnson states. 

She estimates that there are approximately 350 active bald eagle nests throughout North Dakota, with pairs returning to the sites to lay their eggs in the large structures often built atop cottonwood trees and other tall, sturdy species.   So numerous the reports have become, and so established are the nests, that the NDG&F no longer receives reports on each one of them every year, though they may actively harbor nesting eagles and their fledglings. Conservation biologists like Johnson go out and check some sites and the agency does some aerial surveys checking up on nests from time to time.  In total, over the past two decades, NDG&F has documented 650 known bald eagle nesting sites, with abandoned nests or those that have fallen due to weather making up a portion of the historical database.  One location that gets frequent reports from the public is located on the south side of I-94 in eastern North Dakota where bald eagles are actively nesting now and viewable from the highway.

“I get quite a few reports on that nest – the I-94 or Buffalo Exit nest, there’s a few names for it – I probably get at least 20 reports a year, because they’re using that tree that’s really close to the Interstate,” Johnson details with a laugh, adding, “that’s what’s been so interesting about bald eagles, is we used to just see them in these places like rivers, but now they’re just like: hey there’s a big tree here and this looks good, there’s some water nearby, there’s some food sources; so they’re not as picky as we used to think they were.”

Now is an excellent time for people to see eagles as they follow the snow goose migration northward.  In the process, as older snow geese die from exhaustion or other causes on the trip back, eagles serve a vital role in processing the carcasses left behind.  Additionally, as ice-out occurs about the same time, those eagles also feed opportunistically on winterkilled fish that wash up on shore once the ice leaves a lake, and many eagles can utilize one field or one water to fuel up for their continued movements, making for an exciting sight.

“A big part of it is that it’s our national symbol. They are just amazing birds, they’re large, and they’re just neat to see.  With the increasing population and now in the spring when the snow geese come through and we’ve got all these eagles that are probably mostly non-breeding eagles, and they’re just flying around following the geese, eating food – dead snow geese or fish from fish kills – and people can go out and see 50 in a day.  I had one report of almost 150 eagles on one lake that were feeding on dead snow geese,” Johnson explains.

Wildlife watchers can report bald eagle nests online (https://gf.nd.gov/wildlife/nest-reports/bald-eagle) but are encouraged to give the birds a wide berth during nesting and after chicks are born and avoid disturbing the adults, as leaving the nest may endanger the young.

“If you see a nest, and especially if you’re walking – if you’re in a vehicle they seem to be a little less sensitive – but if they start squawking and they’re mad at you and they fly away from the nest, definitely leave the area and just let them be.  When those eggs are on the nest this time of year, or young birds, it doesn’t take long and one of those eaglets could perish,” Johnson advises.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Mighty Eagle.  Beyond being our national symbol, the bald eagle is a charismatic and unique bird of prey.  Since the discontinuation of DDT, their numbers have increased across North America and in North Dakota, where their nests can be found in almost every county now, compared to just a few sites along the Missouri and Red Rivers in the 1990s. FWS Image/Creative Commons.