The largest predatory master of the sky over Buzzards Bay as well as the national aerial emblem of America is returning to be frequently seen along our south-coast shoreline.
However, according to Benjamin Franklin, the Bald Eagle is not at all regal because of a flawed character reputation of acquired bad habits. He said it never deserved to be chosen to represent our nation. It frequently feeds on rotten carrion that washes up on the tidal beach and is proved to be a coward by frequently being driven from its regal perch by a smaller King Bird. The eagle also steals fish from ospreys as well as well as smaller birds, as illustrated by my drawing of the scene right behind its nesting tower behind our house on Little Bay in Fairhaven.
Nonetheless, the eagle has dramatically increased in numbers for bird watchers to tally along our shores since the federal government banned the use of the pesticide for mosquitos in the year 1963. The ban was a national reaction to Rachel Carson’s best-selling book, “Silent Spring” (1962, Houghton Mifflin.)
Again in 1972, the sporting use of shotgun shells to shoot waterfowl with lead shot was banned because if later swallowed in the gullet of an eagle, they become deadly poisonous. Otherwise, eagles live up to 50 years in captivity, and the oldest wild bird tagged was at least 38 years of age. They also have the world’s record of building the biggest nest of any bird, some as tall as three stories. Young birds growing up develop a nesting-site fidelity, but parents like ospreys tear much of it apart in autumn to influence their offspring’s migration.
Recent years have brought global warming of climate change, and earlier season disruptions have become a challenge to migrating eagles. Southern regions in the United States have been replaced by an equal number of comfortable habitats to the north. Audubon science laboratories have used multiple changing eagle habitat data to get a clear picture, as James Audubon himself shot at least eight eagles to erect for art in his studio to be sure his observations were correct.
Bald Eagles have faced numerous planetary and earthly human-inspired challenges since the turn of the beginning of the 20th century. Humans have also improved our environmental understanding of the not-so-regal Bald Eagle with our appreciation; their reputation of behavior is never perfect.
By George B. Emmons
