Bald Eagle milestone for Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Game Commission just released a bulletin announcing that, for the first time since the DDT era, Bald Eagles are nesting at over 200 sites across the state. In fact, as recently as 1983 only 3 nests were known in the state, all in Crawford County. The Bald Eagle population is expanding outside of Pennsylvania as well, birders at hawk watches across the state recorded record numbers of migrating Bald Eagles. These migrants are mostly birds that are breeding north of Pennsylvania.

Bald Eagle - adult (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

I created a map showing which counties are hosting Bald Eagle nests. Higher numbers of Bald Eagle nests are concentrated around big reservoirs and along larger rivers. Nests are also being found along smaller creeks and rivers as the population expands.

County map of Bald Eagle nests

There are several counties that have no known Bald Eagle nests and it would be great to fill in the map. If you know of a Bald Eagle nest in your area, consider reporting it to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The easiest way to contact the agency through: pgccomments@state.pa.us. Use the words “Eagle Nest Information” in the subject field. I know of one additional Bald Eagle nest in Centre County and have already emailed the information to the game commission.