The number of bald eagles in Massachusetts has so far increased in 2020, according to state wildlife officials.
They described the increase as “a dramatic increase,” with more than 70 active nests located so far this spring.
Among the nests were the first to be seen with eggs on Cape Cod in 115 years, according to the Fisheries and Wildlife Division, Massachusetts, also known as MassWildlife.
The country said recently to increase the official status of the country’s most iconic bird from “threatening” to “special attention” within its borders.
While state and federal laws have been formed to protect bald eagles from human intervention, the birds can fight hard for each other’s territory and additional air predators.
This year also marked the first sighting of a bald eagle documented on Martha’s Vineyard, MassWildlife said in a press release – but the eggs in the nest broke out in a battle between a pair of eagles and two ospreys.
In another territorial dispute, a rogue eagle stormed another nearby area and killed chicks in two additional nests on land, MassWildlife said.
Authorities say the increasing number of active nests and territorial incidents are “signs of eagle populations developing in Massachusetts.”
Just a few decades ago, they were in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction, hunting and pollution of their food supply with chemicals such as DDT, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Over the past few decades, the number of bald eagles has recovered and the Fish and Wildlife Service says they are “a success story of the Endangered Species Act.”
They have made a strong revival in regions throughout the country, according to authorities in various countries.
The Ohio Authority announced last month that the population of bald eagles there had surged by 151 percent since the statewide count last eight years ago. And the Arizona Game and Fish Department shared what he said was the first photo of a bald eagle known to be lodged in the arm of a saguaro cactus taken in the state – a scene that hasn’t been documented with pictures since 1937.
Wildlife authorities say birdwatchers must observe eagles from a distance of at least 100 yards, because approaching the nest can make parents leave their eggs.
