Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Survey
TO: Participants in New York's Annual Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Survey
FROM: Peter Nye
DATE: 23 December 2008
SUBJECT: The 2009 Survey
Hello again eagle people !
New York State will once again be participating in the national mid-winter bald eagle survey, representing our 31st consecutive year of such surveys! While this national survey has been coordinated for many years by the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, beginning in 2008, the survey is now coordinated nationally by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers out of their San Francisco office, due to retirement of the USGS coordinator. The survey itself, however, and methodologies, remain the same.
This year's survey officially runs 31 December through 14 January 2009 (inclusive); our New York State target date is of 12 January when we hope to be conducting several aerial surveys over major portions of the state; the closer to this day everyone can get out, the better. Our "lousy weather" dates if we cannot get in the air on that day are every day following until we get it done. The idea behind these surveys, of course, is to count "wintering" eagles once they are theoretically on their wintering grounds. For those of you who don't get paid to do this kind of stuff for a living and have real jobs, please try to survey as close to the 12 January date as possible, so we can avoid overlapping counts as much as possible; but, getting out any time within this survey period would be valuable to us.
As usual, participation again last winter was great here in New York, with nearly 100 observers participating. Thank you, and we look forward to this continuing! While our January 2007 statewide count was the lowest in seven years, due to the early and prolonged mild weather, our 2008 statewide count jumped back up, and very significantly, into our record books, setting a new standard and shattering the 500 mark for the first time ever. Statewide in January 2008, 573 total bald eagles were tallied, 339 adults and 234 immatures, compared to only 324 total bald eagles counted in 2007, 199 adults and 125 immatures (see figure and table that follow). Perhaps more appropriate, however, would be to compare this year's results with our previous winter-record of 442 total eagles (252 adults, 190 immatures) recorded in 2006. The 2008 results represent an increase of 30% in total eagles, a 35% increase in adults, and a 23% increase in immature birds over this previous record.
We continue to pursue our research and monitoring of several major populations of wintering eagles in New York, including capture, banding and satellite tracking. Our focus for wintering eagle research continues to be the Upper Delaware River, where we are involved in a multi-year study in partnership with the National Park Service (Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River). This study also includes breeding eagles in this area and their young, to define essential habitats used by eagles along the Upper Delaware. You can follow our winter eagle research on the Internet at Journey North or through our DEC website, by following the links on this page. A link to our annual statewide bald eagle report is also in the links at right, providing significantly more information on both wintering and breeding eagles in New York. A PDF version of the blank standard reporting form for the 2009 survey is also provided for your use.
IMPORTANT: in addition to the standard information requested on the data form, please make sure you clearly identify the precise time and location of each eagle sighted, so that we may be able to determine overlapping or non-overlapping counts; an actual map with times noted would be extremely helpful. Also, please pay particular attention to any leg bands (color, side, alphanumeric), radio antennas or wing tags birds could carry, and note these in detail on your report.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please return your results to me by 15 February so we can include them in our submission to the national effort by 15 March.
Thank you in advance for your participation, once again, and have fun!
Peter E. Nye
Wildlife Biologist II
Endangered Species Unit Leader
NYSDEC Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources
Annual Regional Summary:
Number of bald eagles observed* within major NYS wintering areas.
| Area | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Delaware River (main stem) | 109 | 41 | 28 | 114 | 93 | 23 | 32 |
| Mongaup River | 42 | 109 | 86 | 75 | 25 | 55 | 55 |
| Hudson River (lower) | 22 | 44 | 16 | 21 | 32 | 21 | - |
| Hudson River (upper) | - | - | - | 11 | 10 | 10 | - |
| Mohawk River | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 |
| St. Lawrence River | 19 | 17 | 45 | 31 | 42 | 16 | - |
| Lake Champlain | - | - | - | - | 441 | 73 | 84 |
| Allegheny River | - | - | - | - | 361 | 112 | 19 |
| All other areas* | 143 | 143 | 188 | 200 | 170 | 131 | 238 |
| Statewide Totals | 335 | 354 | 363 | 441 | 442 | 324 | 573 |
1 First time aerial survey conducted here (helicopter).
2 Six of these eagles not included in the total since observed outside the survey period.
