We Have New Neighbors

By Vic DiSanto, Museum Associate, Iroquois Museum

HOWES CAVE – A new couple has moved into the area! The Iroquois Museum is happy to announce that a pair of bald eagles have nested in the neighborhood.

We would like to extend a hearty welcome and hope that the nesting pair like their new home. After they get settled in, visitors to the museum will be able to view their activities from a telescope that we are setting up on our grounds.

Bald Eagles hold a lofty status in Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) lore. Led by Deganawida, the peace maker, the Iroquois symbolically buried their weapons beneath a white pine known as the Tree of Peace. Atop the tree, Deganawida placed an eagle to scream out a warning at the approach of danger.

The eagle is also considered to be the leader of all the birds. For this reason, Native Americans have chosen the eagle and its feathers as a symbol of what is highest, bravest, and strongest. In the Native American culture, eagle feathers are given to one another in honor, and the feathers are worn with dignity and pride. They are treated with great respect.

The Eagle and the Hermit Thrush

But even the strongest and bravest can be outwitted. According to a Haudenosaunee tale, the Good Spirit decided that the bird who could fly the highest would have the most beautiful song. The eagle was confident he would win, but a little brown thrush hid himself beneath the eagle’s feathers. As all the birds flew upward, one by one they began to tire and drop out of the contest until only the eagle was left. The eagle flew as high as he could until he was completely exhausted. The eagle looked around and saw no other birds, so he turned around to fly back toward Earth. Just then the little brown thrush hopped off the eagle’s head and flew upward to the Land of the Holy Spirits, where he learned a beautiful song. Yet after he returned to earth, he was ashamed because he cheated, so he hid, and today this shy species of bird is known as the Hermit thrush.

Bald Eagle Restoration in New York State

The use of DDT in New York State led to the extirpation of Bald Eagles by the early 1960's. The majestic raptor had stopped producing eaglets because the eggs were collapsing during incubation due to a thinning of the shells caused by the pesticide.

The United States and Canada banned DDT in 1972 and in 1976 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) started transporting juvenile bald eagles from Alaska and releasing them here. Over a 13-year period, 198 nestling bald eagles were transported and released in New York. The program met with success, and by 2010 there were 173 nesting pairs of Bald Eagles who called New York home!

Eagle Watching Etiquette from DEC

Don't approach eagles any closer than a quarter mile
Avoid eagle roosting areas
Don't make loud noises when in the presence of an eagle
Keep your pets at home when you go eagle watching
Don't try to make the birds fly under any circumstances

Bald Eagle Facts

One of the largest birds of prey (raptors) found in North America, bald eagles stand about 30 inches high, have a wingspan of 72-84 inches, and weigh between 8 and 14 pounds.

A bald eagle nest is a large structure, usually located high in a tall, live white pine tree near water. The nest is reused and added to (decorated) each year, often becoming eight or more feet deep, six feet across, and weighing hundreds of pounds.

This majestic bird is easily identified in adult plumage by its unmistakable brown body set off by a white head and tail and bright yellow bill (male and female eagles look identical, except that the female is usually about one third larger and heavier than the male, as is typical in birds of prey). Sexual maturity and the characteristic white head and tail are achieved at five years of age. The word bald in the eagle's name comes from a word in Old English that means white headed.

Immature bald eagles lack a white head and tail. They are mostly chocolate brown with varying amounts of white over the body, tail, and underwings. Juvenile bald eagles are often mistaken for immature golden eagles, which are much rarer in New York.

The bald eagle is a long-lived bird, with a life span in the wild of more than 30 years. Bald eagles mate for life, returning to nest in the general area (within 250 miles) from which they fledged. Once a pair selects a nesting territory, they use it for the rest of their lives.

Bald eagles produce only one or two offspring per year, rarely three. In New York, the young fledge by mid to late summer at about 12 weeks of age. By 20 weeks they are largely independent.