As part of an ongoing research study, juvenile eagles are banded prior to release after treatment and recovery at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. The band color indicates the type of nest the young eagle hatched in: green for nests in trees and black for nests on artificial structures. Audubon seeks to determine if the nest substrate (natural or artificial) chosen by parents affects their offspring’s future nest substrate choice. In addition to banding, the sex of juveniles is recorded to identify any correlation between future nest site choice based on the sex of the bird.
For the 2017-2018 season, Audubon released eight female and four male eaglets with these special bands. Ten eaglets came from natural nests, and the other two from nests on artificial structures. To date, EagleWatch volunteers have resighted eight of the 12 eagles, documenting both post-release survival and persistence of released young. The auxiliary banding program is a multi-year study, with banded birds added to the sample during each successive nesting season.
See a banded Bald Eagle?
Try to snag a picture of the band(s) without disturbing the eagle and report it to Audubon by emailing EagleWatch@Audubon.org with the location, date, and time of the resighting.