If you know where to look at Lake of the Ozarks, you can see them. The sleek dark bodies and a striking white head: majestic bald eagles can be seen soaring over the water of Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage River or perched in trees on the shoreline. At the Lake and across Missouri, their population is on the rise.
Janet Haselrig, resource scientist with the Department of Conservation and creator of EagleWatch, a volunteer organization that monitors bald eagle nests in the state, has seen a steady rise of nesting eagles throughout the last ten years and numbers continue to rise as more nests are monitored.
“We have really great habitat here in Missouri. We have so many open water bodies that are open especially in the winter time and just plenty of food. We have the perfect combination of open water and good habitat,” Haselrig said.
And the Lake of the Ozarks, a premier vacation spot for humans and birds alike, is a particularly popular destination for migrating eagles. But bald eagles weren’t always a part of the state of Missouri. In the 1970’s the use of the pesticide DDT interfered with eagles' ability to produce strong eggshells and put bald eagles on the edge of extinction.
“In the 1970’s, we had zero active nests in Missouri.” said Francis Skalicky, media specialist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
But after years of monitoring and conservation, bald eagles have bounced back in Missouri and across the country. In 2007, they were taken off of the endangered species list. There are now roughly a thousand bald eagles that live in Missouri year-round but during the winter years this number doubles as northern-located bald eagles migrate south during the winter. And in 2020, Eagle Watch was monitoring 521 active nests across the state.
Haselrig hopes to continue to see bald eagles numbers improving because even with populations on the rise, bald eagles still face many dangers.
“We still have those threats out there. Illegal shooting, lead poisoning, habitat lost, powerline electrocution, vehicle collision, climate change and wind turbines. So there’s still a lot to deal with eagles and raptors and birds in general. We just want people to be mindful that even though there is increasing in number there’s still threats out there.”
But in the winter months here at the Lake, when snow tops the houses and there’s barely a boat on the lake, it’s an incredible sight to see these birds dive down on the water and come back up with a fish in its talons.
To participate in the Eagle Watch program, go to https://research.mdc.mo.gov/project/eagle-watch-program. The Missouri Department of Conservation asks individuals who spot a nest to report it, so the nest can be monitored and protected.
