U.S. Eagle Survey includes Georgia

Georgia, like most states, has been aerially monitoring nesting bald eagles for the past two to three decades. The work documented the bald eagle’s amazing recovery, providing data used in de-listing the species from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Yet, because state surveys miss an unknown number of nests, the Fish and Wildlife Service is doing additional searches of suitable habitat to estimate the proportion of nests detected through standard techniques. This nesting season, Georgia was assigned five blocks, each a 10-kilometer square, in the coastal zone where the state’s eagle nesting density is greatest. Georgia Wildlife Resources Division observers teamed with a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist/pilot to conduct searches by plane of these blocks on Feb. 24 and 25.

The immediate result: One new nest was discovered in Camden County.