O beautiful for spacious skies filled with Bald Eagles
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O beautiful for spacious skies filled with Bald Eagles
Except, in this post, those skies are mostly in Canada…
This feels like almost too much of a statement bird to kick things off, but it is just the chance of timing that makes the Bald Eagle the first feature out the gate. I have a backlog of trips and birds to report here, but I just got back from Haida Gwaii in Canada where Bald Eagles were everywhere. They soared in the sky, perched on poles, and could be found sitting in trees all around the island. And there were often multiple at one time. It was an awesome experience by which I mean being overtaken by wonder and gratitude—not just super cool (though it was that too).
As the national bird of the United States, the image of the Bald Eagle is widespread. Growing up, I didn’t think it was possible to see them in the wild, though, since they were an endangered species. Factors including habitat loss and illegal shooting led to the Bald Eagle’s decline, but the widespread use of the pesticide DDT after World War II in particular decimated the population by making adults sterile or rendering egg shells too brittle. The Bald Eagle turned from cautionary environmental tale to quite the successful conservation story. After DDT was banned in the 1970s, populations rebounded and the latest US Fish and Wildlife Services Bald Eagle Population Update estimates 316,700 eagles across the lower 48 states.
This chart of Bald Eagle nests from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a good visual of the population’s lowest point and its rebound. (Though lead ammo still poses a problem to the bird.)
My first Bald Eagle sighting happened in 2021 on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park, which is sometimes called the Galapagos Islands of California. Here it is perched on top of a rock we passed under while kayaking—admittedly not a great photo:
But I got closer to Bald Eagles and felt the full force of their majesty on my August 2022 trip to Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada, which, coincidentally, is sometimes called the Galapagos Islands of Canada. (One day, maybe I’ll make it to the actual Galapagos Islands…)
Haida Gwaii is the ancestral home of the Haida Nation. It’s an archipelago in northwest British Columbia, and just south of the southeast part of Alaska. It’s a beautiful place with rugged coasts and foggy rainforests.The land is governed by the Haida Nation, and they are its stewards. It is important to be a respectful visitor if you do go there. Review their orientation guide and take the pledge.
As it is for many indigenous cultures of North America, the eagle is a sacred animal. The two main clans for the Haida are the Raven and Eagle. Both birds are depicted often in Haida art, including carved poles. You can tell it’s an eagle because its beak protrudes and is hooked at the end.
Bald Eagles feel almost omnipresent on Haida Gwaii, and I saw two soaring overhead almost as soon as I arrived. And there were many times I just looked up to see one on a pole or in a tree. Like I said at the top, it was awe-inspiring to see and hear these big, majestic eagles everywhere.
Speaking of hearing, in movies and TV shows you often hear the Bald Eagle give off a piercing screech. This is actually the call of a Red-Tailed Hawk. For whatever reason, folks didn’t find the Bald Eagle’s actual vocalizations befitting America’s national symbol, and decided to dub over it. Here’s a video from Alaska Raptor Center with both calls side by side:
Perhaps the most thrilling sighting I had on Haida Gwaii was a bunch of Bald Eagles coming in for feeding on salmon on a rocky shore. Bald Eagles don’t actually do their own fishing, but rather go after others’ catches—a characteristic that made Benjamin Franklin think of them as “a Bird of bad moral Character” and a poor choice for the U.S. national symbol. (He preferred the turkey.)
Have I used the word “awe” enough yet? That is the big takeaway here: Bald Eagles are awesome. Or as they might say up in Canada: Bald Eagles are awesome, eh?