Scouting the eagles: Proof that protecting nests aids reproduction

Date:  January 9, 2018

Source:  University of Wisconsin-Madison

Summary:

Reproduction among bald eagles in a remote national park in Minnesota was aided when their nests were protected from human disturbance, according to a new study.

The study, by researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison, the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, focused on a nest-protection program that was based on the logical assumption that endangered birds would reproduce and prosper if people are kept away from their nests.

The assumption was logical, but unproven, says study author Ben Zuckerberg, an associate professor of wildlife ecology at UW-Madison. By combining more than 40 years of data from Voyageurs National Park, along the Canadian border, he, post-doctoral researcher Jennyffer Cruz and colleagues found that the breeding population of bald eagles at Voyageurs rose from fewer than 10 pairs in the late 1970s to 48 pairs by 2016.

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