JUNE 2016 • NEBRASKAland 73
The search also found a case of eagles raiding it and preying
on heron hatchlings. People living near the Lancaster County
nest didn't report witnessing predation, but it was readily
apparent when the eagles were returning to the nest from the
racket the herons made.
The number of bald eagle nests dropped from an estimated
100,000 when it became the nation's symbol in 1782 to
fewer than 500 in 1963, the result of habitat loss, poisoning
and widespread pesticide use. When the bald eagle was
removed from the endangered species list in 2007, there
were about 10,000 active nests in the United States and 54
in Nebraska, where the first successful nest in recent times
came in 1991. Last year, there were more than 12,000 nests
nationwide and 118 in Nebraska.
Jorgensen said he expects that number to keep rising.
"They're already blowing away any expectations," he said,
pointing to the 1980s when researchers thought 10 active
nests would be a success. "I think that the big question is
when does this start leveling off and we start seeing the
habitat in the state becoming saturated."
Up to 7 percent of bald eagle nests in Nebraska are blown
down from trees each year, Jorgensen said. Sometimes the
chicks can be rescued and raised by Fontenelle Forest's
Raptor Recovery. Eagles typically return to the same
territory the following year and build a new nest. People
living near a heron rookery in Lancaster County, and the
herons living in it, will be watching to see if they choose to
start from scratch or take over another nest. ■
An adult bald eagle tends to its young as great blue herons tend
to theirs last June in the Lancaster County rookery in which the
eagles chose to nest the past three years.
