July 27, 1989 - An Eagle's Path, from Egg to East EndB14 The Suffolk Times • July 27, 1989
An Eagle's Path, from Egg to East End
By Paul Stoutenburah
We here on the East End don't see ea-
gles too often and so when someone
called me about seeing one at Montauk I
was all ears. Jim Krajicek, a freelance
photographer working out on the East
End over the fourth of July, spotted a
large bird along the shore. Realizing it
was unusual he tried to work his way
closer. He was amazed to find it an im-
mature bald eagle.
He felt this large brown bird with
white flecking and a huge hooked beak
was worth photographing. As he worked
his way closer and closer he was able to
read numbers on a leg band, 629 - 31536.
With this information in hand he called
the Fish and Wildlife Service and then
after a few more calls he finally reached
the one who originally banded the bird
out in Oklahoma.
Wanting to get more information on
the eagle I too called the Sutton Avian
Research Center and spoke to Allen
Jenkins, who is deeply involved in try-
ing to introduce bald eagles into the
southeast where they were once com-
mon. Ths organization is a research and
educational institution funded by corpo-
rations and private trusts.
The eagle seen at Montauk over the
July 4 weekend was later seen by the
workers at the Southold Town landfill
on the north shore. Sorry to say, when
they tried to contact me I was out and
therefore missed seeing it myself, but
the men at the landfill are familiar with
red - tailed hawks and said this was much
much larger. Their description fit the
immature bald eagle perfectly right
down to the color of the bill.
Eagles Are Scavengers
One of the employees saw it attack
and kill a seagull. Eagles are scavengers
of the highest order and will often dis-
patch a crippled duck or in this case a
seagull. It reminded me of the time I
saw an eagle attack an osprey in flight
until the osprey dropped its catch, which
the eagle promptly landed on and ate.
They are first -class opportunists and
take advantage of every chance for a free
meal without actually catching it. This
is not to say eagles do not catch fish on
their own or other creatures but if
someone else does the catching, the ea-
gle is usually there to harass whoever it
might be for the meal.
This particular bald eagle came from
an egg collected in Florida last Dec. 9,
along with 125 others. It was one in a
clutch of the usual two eggs taken from
Focus on
Nature
the nest with full knowledge that the
female would lay a new clutch to incu-
bate. The collected eggs are then me-
chanically incubated and the young ea-
glets hatch in about 35 days.
The first five days the eyes of the ea-
glets are not fully developed and there-
fore the sight of humans feeding them at
this critical time has no effect on the
bird. After the first five days the bird
never sees its human feeder as all feed-
ing is done with a puppet from behind
one -way glass. Even when it comes to
weighing the birds, which is three times
a week, the participants take special
precautions by wearing camouflage
cover so that the bird does not become
familiar with people and therefore be-
come imprinted to humans. This im-
printing is a problem when people start
feeding young birds in captivity as it is
difficult for them to break away from
their adopted parent and return to the
wild with all its hazards and uncertain-
ties.
On Their Own
After six to eight weeks of feeding
and tending the eaglets are taken to a
tower where they are fed for another
three weeks. By then they are able to fly
and the cage is left open so they can
come and go, returning for food only
when they so desire. Gradually they
learn to fend for themselves. This par-
ticular bird was fledged on Horn Island
off Mississippi, part of the National
Park System that runs along the entire
Gulf Coast. The theory is that because
of the heat of summer down there eagles
move north to cooler areas and that is
probably how our eagle came to Mon-
tauk and Southold.
The Sutton Avian Research Center is
involved in many other projects, one in
particular being the restoration of the
peregrine falcon, a bird that ranks high
on the endangered - species list. Here in
New York State a similar hacking pro-
gram is being carried out in hopes of
introducing this handsome falcon into
the New York City area and the Pal-
isades of New Jersey where it once was
a common nester. There are reports that
this system is working. Each year we
hear about new nesting sites, like the
one on the Verrazzano Bridge and other
sites amongst the tall buildings of New
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BALD EAGLE —This
at the landfill in Cutch
was seen at Montauk.
immature eagle was r
ogue. Earlier, over the
York City where these birds have taken
up residence. Since the peregrine is a
fierce and deadly predator it will have
little trouble finding a meal of pigeons
in that area.
All these efforts to try to reintroduce
species that have been pushed out by
man in one way or another could have
been avoided if only man had planned a
little better earlier on. Today we are
waking up to the fact that we no longer
can do what we want with our environ-
ment. As much as we dislike them,
rules and regulations are now forcing us
to correct our ways with reference to the
environment. Whether it will be too late
remains to be seen.
The environment is now a worldwide
Photo by Jim Kraiicek
ecently spotted by workers
Fourth of July weekend, it
concern and just last week the heads of
the most prosperous countries in the
world met in Europe to discuss prob-
lems confronting them. In a list of the
20 most important concerns, 17 had to
do with the environment.
The loss of ospreys, or eagles or
peregrine falcons to many is of no great
concern. But we should realize that the
loss of these birds, plants and other
parts of the natural world are indicators
that our world is in trouble. If for no
other reason we should be thankful we
have people who are alert enough and
can interpret the problems that our
wildlife are facing so that we may be the
beneficiary of a better world.
We cover the waterfront
The Suffolk Times
Tfw Birdwateher s Companion
4Everyth* for the Birder'
• Bird Feeders • Field Guides • Bird Baths • Carvings
• Bird Houses • Seed • Binoculars • Gifts
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12 -5 • Closed Wednesday
North Road, (County Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872
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BALD EAGLE —This
at the landfill in Cutch
was seen at Montauk.
immature eagle was r
ogue. Earlier, over the
York City where these birds have taken
up residence. Since the peregrine is a
fierce and deadly predator it will have
little trouble finding a meal of pigeons
in that area.
All these efforts to try to reintroduce
species that have been pushed out by
man in one way or another could have
been avoided if only man had planned a
little better earlier on. Today we are
waking up to the fact that we no longer
can do what we want with our environ-
ment. As much as we dislike them,
rules and regulations are now forcing us
to correct our ways with reference to the
environment. Whether it will be too late
remains to be seen.
The environment is now a worldwide
Photo by Jim Kraiicek
ecently spotted by workers
Fourth of July weekend, it
concern and just last week the heads of
the most prosperous countries in the
world met in Europe to discuss prob-
lems confronting them. In a list of the
20 most important concerns, 17 had to
do with the environment.
The loss of ospreys, or eagles or
peregrine falcons to many is of no great
concern. But we should realize that the
loss of these birds, plants and other
parts of the natural world are indicators
that our world is in trouble. If for no
other reason we should be thankful we
have people who are alert enough and
can interpret the problems that our
wildlife are facing so that we may be the
beneficiary of a better world.
We cover the waterfront
The Suffolk Times
Tfw Birdwateher s Companion
4Everyth* for the Birder'
• Bird Feeders • Field Guides • Bird Baths • Carvings
• Bird Houses • Seed • Binoculars • Gifts
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12 -5 • Closed Wednesday
North Road, (County Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872