For Release April 4, 2004

Nesting Bald Eagles in Kansas

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

With the announcement this past week of nesting Bald Eagles in the Milford Lake area, there has obviously been a great deal of interest in nesting eagles. Prior to the European settlement of Kansas, Bald Eagles nested regularly along the major rivers. Audubon made a trek through parts of Kansas in 1843 and reported Bald Eagles on nest between Ft. Leavenworth and St. Joseph. The town of LeCompton was originally named Bald Eagle because of nesting eagles in that area.

But by 1900 it appeared that all nesting activity had ceased. Periodic reports of winter nest building activity surfaced from 1957 through 1987, but no Bald Eagles were ever reported incubating eggs. This changed in 1989 when a pair of eagles were reported nesting at Clinton Reservoir near Lawrence. This pair of adults successfully fledged two eaglets that summer. Fledging is the term used to indicate that the young birds have developed adequately to fly on their own and hence take care of themselves. They have, in essence, flown the nest!

Since that initial nest in 1989, Bald Eagles have successfully nested and fledged young somewhere in Kansas every year. I believe there have now been over 17 different nest sites in Kansas with well over 100 eagles fledged. Three years ago the first successful nest was reported from nearby Tuttle Creek Reservoir so we felt that the time for a Milford Lake nest was growing closer.

Bald Eagles do not become mature until four years of age, at which time they gain their distinctive pure white head and tail. In the summer of 2003, several of us were watching a pair of sub-adult eagles (three year old birds) that spent most of the summer around Milford Lake, raising our hopes that 2004 might be "the" year!

Eagles are large birds. Large birds have large eggs that take a long time to incubate. Then the eaglets have to eat a lot and grow a lot before they are able to take their first flight. Therefore Bald Eagles start nesting very early in the season. What we have seen in Kansas is that an eagle pair will start nest building in early winter so that they can start egg laying and incubating during the month of February. On average, it will take 38 days for an eagle egg to hatch. So if the Milford Lake birds are normal, the eggs should be hatching by now, if they haven't already.

Now the real work starts. Those little eaglets will eat a lot of food over the coming days and they will grow rapidly. It will take 75 to 80 days for eaglets to fledge, or have that first flight out of the nest. Nests in Kansas have fledged anywhere from zero to three eaglets, with two being the most common.

That takes us into early June. During the early and mid summer months they are learning how to hunt and fish for themselves from the adults. What we have seen in the other Kansas nests is that sometime in late July or early August the adults and the young will leave the nest area. It's not quite sure where they go, but is generally felt that they had north and or west. Sometime in September they should return and the adults will start getting ready to start again, usually with the same nest.

While nesting Bald Eagles have become expected in the state, it's exciting to finally have them nesting in our area!

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