Fledgling Eagles At Talaris At Risk, Neighbors Ask To Please Help By Staying Away

Several nearby Talaris neighbors sent us this urgent and important email:

The two fledglings left their Talaris nest yesterday, Sunday, June 30th, and are on the ground trying to fly. They are at risk of dogs and speeding cars. One walker yesterday refused to leash her dog.

So far 3 dog walkers with dogs on leash have walked right through the area. When I ran out and asked them to please not walk through there they said they saw the eaglets and they would not bother them. Only 4 feet away.

No one should go into this area. To be taken care of by the adults and to survive, the area needs to be undisturbed.  

If the adults do not feel safe enough to land on the ground and take care of the fledglings, the fledglings may not survive. The eagles need to be able to range up to 1/4 mile without disturbance of cars, people or dogs.

 

Bald eagles are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The US Fish and Wildlife developed guidelines to avoid disturbance to nesting bald eagles. I am attaching two pages from the Federal Fish and Wildlife National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines and a link to their website for disturbances.

Disturbing the eaglets at this time is a Federal Offense and can be cause for a fine. The do not disturb rule includes a 150 ft range. 

Unfortunately, the property representative, Nathan, came by last night and rearranged the protective signs we set out to protect the babies.  

As a result people are driving right up to their refuge and the parent eagle have been scared away. If they can't feed their babies, they will perish.

Please ask our neighbors to respect the eagles at this critical time by staying away from the NE 41st Talaris lawn and to be alert as they drive by to  try to give this years eaglets a chance of surviving. This is a very unusual circumstance.

It will be terrible for the neighborhood if neighbors actions result in the fledglings not surviving or an adult being injured.

Here is information from the about disturbing eaglets from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services:

Habitat destruction is thought to cause greater reductions in bird and other wildlife populations than any other factor, and is still the most serious long-term threat.

Nest Sites

AVOID Breeding Season January 1 – August 15
In the Pacific Northwest, bald eagles usually begin nesting in early January, with the young leaving the nest as late as mid-August. The nesting season extends from January 1 through August 15.  The best solution is to conduct new or intermittent activities outside the nesting season. If you can’t avoid the nesting season, minimize your impacts (see below).

MINIMIZE Visual and Noise Disturbance
Maintain a disturbance buffer around an active nest to reduce visual and noise disturbance associated with human activities near nest sites. Eagles are unlikely to be disturbed by routine use of homes, roads or home landscaping equipment when that use was occurring before an eagle pair successfully nested in an area.

Visibility –
Eagles are more prone to disturbance by activities that occur in full view. Reduce the likelihood of disturbance by locating activities as far from a nest as possible with visual barriers (such as hills, trees, or buildings) between you and the nest. Distance buffers in open areas will need to be larger than buffers in dense vegetation or other natural screening.

Noise –
Eagles are more prone to disturbance by noise that occurs infrequently, unpredictably, or starts after nesting season begins (January 1). If your activity produces noise that the eagles have demonstrated a tolerance for outside of nesting season, the eagles are unlikely to be disturbed by that noise continuing during the nesting season. If your noise is intermittent (such as blasting or fireworks), avoid creating that noise during the nesting season (January 1 – August 15).