Eagle Education and Information

[Adler]

Shuff and Alice
thank you so much for all the info
I don't have a nest on my property . I live up on a ridge next to a river and have a large number of huge trees next to the river/lake .
I have also seen an  adult eagle flying below and soaring right in front of my deck.
That got me to thinking , what if ....hopeful thinking I guess .
Those articles are fascinating and contain things I never heard of , thanks again 

[AliceWitt]

Great news, AEF finally posted a video of the reunion of the two bald eagles. Volunteer had been with his mate for 23 years, broke out of the flight area in Dollywood, was captured a month later, and is back home.
Listen to the comments of the interviewer regarding eagle emotions.
Escaped Dollywood bald eagle reunites with mate of 22 years wbir com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieuX0vkZSmQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[Adler]

Alice, thanks for posting this video.
I wonder if the eagle I saw in front of my house was Volunteer.
I live about an hours drive from Dollywood.
That's not far "as the eagle flies".
This was only the second eagle I have seen in Tennessee in over 40 years.
I am so glad Volunteer is back with his girl.

[AliceWitt]

AEF has released it's own video of the reunion of Volunteer and Hero.
Volunteer Reunited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3UQWKSqnB4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[AliceWitt]

I was asked about the history of these two eagles and wrote AEF. They are always so good at responding. I received the following e-mail from Bob Hatcher, AEF Eagle Consultant and Correspondent; and Retired Tennessee Endangered Wildlife Coordinator (1978-2001), Brentwood, TN (225 miles west of Pigeon Forge near Nashville, TN)

Thanks for your questions below to the American Eagle Foundation (AEF) about the history of "Volunteer".  As you know from the videos, etc., Volunteer escaped from a large Dollywood aviary opening, which was probably caused by the swaying of a tree during a storm, on September 11.  He was recaptured nearby on October 3 by Al Cecere and Rob West.  They were using a remote radio controlled spring loaded net trap for raptors. The spring-loaded nets are available from falconry suppliers at 5  to 8 feet in diameter. 
 
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gave permission to the San Francisco Zoo to remove this and some other eaglets from their wild nests in northern California, where Bald Eagles were more abundant than in most other areas.  Since the zoo had been successful in its bald eagle captive breeding program, the zoo planned to use them to expand their captive breeding program, after they would reach sexual maturity at 4-5 years age.   The young would then be reintroduced into the wild at strategic  locations needing nesting restoration. 
 
The eagles, that had been taken from the Northern California nests as eaglets, had never experienced living and surviving in the wild.  They wouldn't know how to catch their prey (usually fish), nor possibly even how to identify live prey as food.   They were therefore deemed non-releasable because they would likely starve to death in the wild.
 
In 2007, the San Francisco Zoo transferred 9 of their adult bald eagles, including Volunteer and its mate, to AEF at Pigeon Forge, TN.  They didn't have names at that time, but were simply labeled by their leg band numbers of 298002 (now known as Volunteer) and its female mate, 288031, now known as "Hero".  In 2007, Volunteer and Hero produced two eaglets, which were released from AEF's Douglas Lake hack tower on June 25 and July 1, 2007, respectively.  Two other of the zoo mated pairs also produced three eaglets, that were also released on Douglas Lake during the summer of 2007.
 
In 2008, the AEF records show that four eaglets were produced from the adults that had originated at the San Francisco Zoo.  However, the records don't identify the specific parents, nor whether there were two or three mated pairs from the zoo that year. 
 
The AEF nesting records for 2009 through 2011 don't identify any of the eagle parents as San Francisco Zoo eagles.  However, they could have been among the seven mated pairs that laid eggs during those years, when new names were added to the listings of eagle parents.  None of the parents from 2009 - 2011 are listed as "Volunteer"  or  "Hero".  However, it is possible that some of their names were since changed to "Volunteer" and "Hero", unbeknownst to me.  I am therefore copying this to our AEF staff at Pigeon Forge to determine if Volunteer and Hero produced eggs and/or eaglets during 2009-2011, and if so what were their former names?.   If so, I will let you know.
 
In any case, we hope that they stay on "good terms" for the next mating season, even though they may be approaching the ages when they may not be  productive due to infertile eggs, etc.   Twenty-nine years is the oldest Bald eagle that has been documented to survive in the wild, based on banding records.  However, they have been known to live over 50 years in captivity, where they have fewer survival threats and available veterinary care. 
 
Thanks for your interest in Volunteer and Hero.

[AliceWitt]

Seeing  some of the injuries to NX including the possible lung involvement, I did some research into the respiratory system of birds.


Respiratory System of Birds: Anatomy and Function
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1829&aid=2721

[LuckyLady]

Thanks for this, Alice.  Respiratory infections and toxins are especially dangerous for our avian friends, as compared to mammalian friends.   

[raptors4ever]

If you do take it, I'll be looking for your "review".    Before the Internet, Cornell was pretty much everyone's only go to place when it comes to Ornithology.  They are still #1 for many and at the top when it comes to Avian information.  They are very involved with some pretty serious research too.   
           
Squee

Okay, Squee, I did take the course, so here is my review:

The course referred to is "Courtship and Rivalry in Birds," offered online by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. It is a five-week course and costs $295. The course addresses the social behavior of birds in general, not specific to raptors. The structure of the course is such that both a casual bird-watcher and an experienced bird specialist can benefit. Since I am relatively new in the field, my purpose was to broaden my general knowledge beyond the focused eagle and hawk watching phase.

The course instructor is Kevin McGowan, who has a Ph.D. in biology from U. of South Florida and has worked at Cornell since 1988. Kevin is one of the world's foremost experts on the behavior of crows. His list of credentials fills a whole page. His teaching style is to pose a question, invite discussion, and toss in another question or comments to keep things rolling.

The course combines explanatory texts/interviews, video from the Macaulay Library, case studies, Q&A tests, behavior simulations, and a discussion board to cover the material for each of the five weeks. The course explains how scientists study behavior, and works through interesting scenarios that will help in understanding the roles that kinship, sex, and the distribution of resources often play in behavior. We were given access to "Birds of North America Online", Cornell's repository of bird information for the duration of the course.

Did I learn anything from the course? Yes, and I do recommend the course! Hopefully, my observation skills have improved. I am more aware of my tendency to use inference, and now try to stick to observations. I really did take away a lot from this course. If I had a complaint, it would be that there were so many interesting topics introduced in the discussion forum that it was impossible to follow up on all of them.

4re

[doberman]

I was just reading here again from the start of this thread. I hope more info continues to be added.

[mjot]

I am happy that this thread was established by Shuff. It is so good to get sound information and sources.

[doberman]

I wish this could be moved to where more people can view it. It gets buried here.

[julie]

Hey Doberman maybe we should go back and find Finn's answers to questions and post them here and start referring people to this thread for answers to ?'s.  Or better yet let the search function take them to this thread what do you think?

[doberman]

Julie, I had a lot of stuff on here filed on my computer for easy reference, but lost it. I've been going through when I have a chance and getting info again. There's some good stuff on here.

[shuff1]

Hi All, I think this is a good time to revisit this thread with all of the research that we will find for the year.  I love it that this can be a 'go to' place to find the links and scientific information.

Thy posted some very interesting information on the genus of sea eagles or fish eagles in the Decorah thread.  Here is more information on where our eagles fit into the world of eagles. 

http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle6.html

[csann]

Birdsofohio posted a link to an interesting article on eggs in SS this morning.  I'm reposting the link here, if anyone is interested.

http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/truenature/truenature0509.html


This article is on eggs in general and not just eagles.