LANSING, Iowa — An area in northeast Iowa has become a home for bald eagles as numbers of the predatory bird continue to grow around Lansing.
A nonprofit conservation group, Friends of Pool 9, found 91 active bald eagles' nests, a number that has gradually grown in eight years, near Pool 9 on the Mississippi River.
"We have more eagles here by accident than most places have on purpose," said Jim Janett, executive director of the Allamakee County Conservation Board.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Drew Becker said the habitat is welcoming to bald eagles. Thousands of wild acres provide plenty of food, and the birds like to perch and nest in the big, old cottonwood trees lining the bank. The agency manages the 240,000-acre Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge over 261 river miles.
Eagles' staple food is fish, but they also eat waterfowl, snakes, turtles or carrion. With numerous interior rivers bordered by two of the nation's largest rivers, Iowa became a magnet for the species.
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Bald eagles were listed as an endangered species from 1967 until 2007. In 1963, just more than 400 nesting pairs of bald eagles remained in the country. The pesticide DDT was found to weaken the eagle's egg shells. DDT was banned in 1972, but the damage had been done.
"I remember coming out in the 1970s, and it was a huge deal if you saw an eagle," Janett said.
Richard King, manager of the McGregor District, which includes Pools 9, 10 and 11 of the Mississippi, said officials don't manage the eagle population like they do deer.
"I expect the population to be at an all-time high," King said. "At some point, the refuge will be saturated. We'll see how many bald eagles we can support."
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
