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Show I National Wildlife Federation Census of Bald Eagles -1 Z The National Wildlife Federation has reported that H its first census of bald eagles in the "lower 48" states, J taken during two weeks of v January 1979, produced a S . count of 9,836 eagles-nearly T: twice the number counted in any previous survey of the r endangered national bird. E William S. Clark, director of the NWF's Raptor In- formation Center attributed the surprisingly high count H of nearly 10,000 bald eagles-H eagles-H 6,196 adults, 3,413 immature birds, and 227 of in-? in-? determinate age--to the r "intensity" of the NWF survey and the fact that its participants, under the : guidance of 43 eagle experts t serving as regional coor- dinators, were looking only ;: for eagles. r Clark estimated that most :, of the bald eagles counted in the survey were "im-: "im-: migrants"-winter visitors ; who fly down from Alaska I and Canada when cold i weather interferes with their : hunting and feeding north of : the border. Alaska has a summertime bald eagle : population estiamted at up to 50.0Q0 and Canada's ; summer bald eagle " population is estiamted at . 40,000 to 45,000. A resident or year-round population of about 5,000 j eagles in the lower 48 states i would place the bald eagle population for the North American continent at about 100,000. ; The bald eagle has been listed by the Interior j Department as an "en- dangered species" in 43 of the contiguous states and "threatened" in five others-- ': Minnesota, Wisconsin, ; Michigan, Oregon and i Washington-since February : of 1978. The NWF survey covered only the lower 48 j states because the national ! bird is plentiful in the 49th : state, Alaska, and non-; non-; existent in the 50th, Hawaii. ; Although the total of 9,836 bald eagles tallied in the NWF census was much higher than in previous counts, Clark said the new : survey does "not : necessarily" confirm the widely-held belief that bald eagles have made a "comeback" in the U.S. . since some deadly pesticides were outlawed in the early 1970s. "We just haven't had good nationwide figures in the past," said Clark, "and in this survey we probably counted only a fraction of all the bald eagles either nesting or roosting here during those weeks in January. But we have established a reference point." The results of future NWF surveys, Clark said, will be invaluable: "Concentrations of eagles will, of course, tell us where the best habitats are and this will tell us the roosting birds' needs. If the population in one area suddenly declines, we can try to find out why. Was it pollution or deterioration of habitat? We want to learn to be good hosts to our wintering win-tering bald eagles. Washington state, with 1,126 sightings reported the biggest bald eagle population among the states surveyed. Runners-up were California, with 810; Florida, 675; Oklahoma, 581 ; Oregon, 494; Texas, 435; Idaho, 392; Arkansas, 379; and Wyoming 365. Eagles were sighed in all but three states-New Hampshire, Vermont, and West Virginia. Bad weather may have interfered with the census in those states, said Clark. Bitterly cold weather and frozen lakes may also have affected the count in Minnesota, which reported only three sightings despite the fact that the state hosts a fairly large eagle population in the summertime. sum-mertime. The Raptor Information Center, established in 1976 by the National Wildlife Federation as a clearing house for data on eagles and other birds of prey, is working on a more intensive analysis of the survey. The analysis will provide information in-formation on eagle distribution vital to local bald eagle management, especially in inventorying public lands for potential designation as "critical .habitat.". |