At southeast Calgary’s Carburn Park, it took local naturalist Brian Keating practically no time to point out two bald eagles by the river.
“They’ve been here nesting in this part of Calgary for years and years,” Keating said of this particular pair. “And it’s pretty well assured that you’re going to see an eagle when you come down to this park.”
Seeing bald eagles in Calgary comes as no surprise to Keating, who says the Bow River offers an ideal habitat for them to stay in the city year-round.
And spotting the iconic birds of prey, with their unmistakable plumage, is becoming more commonplace across the province as eagles expand their habitat and populations soar thanks to conservation efforts.
What brings bald eagles to Alberta?
From along the Bow River to deep in the grasslands, bald eagles can be found practically anywhere in Alberta.
At the Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation wildlife rehabilitation centre in Coaldale, managing director Colin Weir works directly with bald eagles and other raptors that have come in from across the province.
“When I first moved here in the ’80s, the only place you’d really see bald eagles in Alberta was closer to the mountain rivers and lakes,” he said.
“But in the last 10 years or so, we’ve really noticed a big increase in them expanding out mostly along the Prairie rivers.”
Weir said the province’s bald eagle population is made up of year-round residents, like the birds found in Calgary every winter, and migratory birds that nest in places like Banff but overwinter in warmer parts of the continent.
“The rivers in southern Alberta offer extraordinary habitat for these birds to nest,” Weir said. “Big sources of food, with fish and migratory ducks, for example.”
They’re also found in unexpected places, like in fields far from any major bodies of water.
“They basically dwell and stay around some of the agricultural areas,” Weir said, pointing to the potential for there to be dead livestock on farms and feedlots. “Sometimes, the bald eagles being scavengers, they will feed on those.”
When it comes to bald eagles in and around Calgary, Keating pointed to the results of the latest local Christmas Bird Count, a citizen science initiative in which people count how many birds they find in a particular area for conservation and population monitoring purposes. The total: more than 400.
“That’s unheard of a few decades ago,” said Keating.
Conservation success story
NatureCounts, a platform that compiles data from wildlife sightings and population trends through citizen science, suggests bald eagle populations have been on the rise throughout North America.
Much of that population recovery came after the United States government designated bald eagles an endangered species in the 1970s.
Though it’s been the national bird of the U.S. since 1782, the bald eagle was long viewed as a nuisance and killed in immeasurable numbers.
“They were hunted and shot because of the misbelief that they took animals like baby sheep,” Keating said. “And that does happen, but it’s rare as can be.”
In Alaska, a bounty on bald eagles was in place from 1917 to 1952, leading to more than 120,000 of the birds being killed. The bald eagle bounty was removed a few years before Alaska became a state.
That long-running persecution also hurt Canada’s bald eagle populations, as many of the birds would spend time between both countries as part of their migration.
Through conservation initiatives — Canadian bald eagles being brought to the States for breeding, the banning of highly destructive pesticide DDT in both countries, and Congress making it illegal for anyone in the U.S. to kill bald eagles in 1940, to name a few — the species has experienced a dramatic resurgence across North America.
As of 2022, it’s estimated there’s been a population increase of more than 600 per cent across the continent since 1970. Bald eagles have now been removed from the endangered species list.
Birds Canada data suggests the country is home to 110,000 bald eagles.
Thousands of eagles have flocked to the Fraser Valley. The annual migration sees the birds gather in the Harrison Mills area to feast on salmon. Our Baneet Braich went to witness the seasonal spectacle.
Keating has seen that resurgence first hand over the years, saying that “50, 60 years ago, it was almost impossible to find one. So I think we have to remember that success stories can happen.”
Despite their population resurgence and dedicated conservation efforts, Canada’s bald eagles continue to face threats.
Alberta’s Wildlife Act prohibits the hunting and harassment of bald eagles and other birds of prey in the province, though that hasn’t stopped them from being targeted by poachers.
Beyond poaching, Keating says habitat loss and environmental contamination are grave threats facing birds like bald eagles.
“The problem we have now is lead,” he said, calling it a “seriously poisonous” substance for bald eagles.
That comes from bald eagle prey being exposed to the substance through hunters shooting animals with lead ammunition, which contaminates carcasses and has the potential to kill eagles that consume those remains, as well as lead fishing lures exposing fish to it.
