Tommy Hough
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • On Air
  • 2018 Endorsements
  • Book Tommy
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • On Air
  • 2018 Endorsements
  • Book Tommy
  • Blog

Endangered Species Spotlight: The Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle

5/14/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
As impressive as they come: the Golden Eagle and the Bald Eagle.
Picture
By Tommy Hough and Andrew Meyer

All this week the San Diego Audubon Society has been celebrating Endangered Species Day by highlighting five local birds that benefit from federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. So far we've featured the Ridgway's Rail, Least Bell's Vireo, and Western Snowy Plover. Today we're highlighting both the Bald and Golden Eagle — and though they may be seldom seen, both are found here in San Diego County.

While the Bald Eagle stands as one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act (it was removed from the endangered list in 1995), Golden Eagles haven't been doing as well in San Diego County. In fact, over the last 100 years we've lost more than half of our county's breeding pairs, almost entirely due to sprawl development cutting into and destroying habitat.

Golden Eagles are larger than Bald Eagles, with an average wingspan of five feet, and record wingspans of eight feet or more. They're dark brown with lighter shades on their wingtips, and yellow feathering at the base of the neck. Found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, the Golden Eagle is one of the world's most widely distributed eagle species.

As a result of its reasonably stable numbers nationally, the Golden Eagle has never been listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or other federal agency, although it was initially earmarked for protection from commercial trapping and hunting as part of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in 1940.

Despite this early act of preservation, the Golden Eagle saw its numbers decline by mid-century, but it was the Bald Eagle that had become critically endangered by the early 1970s, in part from the widespread use of the "Silent Spring" pesticide DDT, which weakened the integrity of eggs in dozens of bird species.

In many ways, the Bald Eagle's plight enabled passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 in order to save the nation's symbol from extinction. Since the ESA's implementation, the Golden Eagle has similarly benefitted from measures to preserve Bald Eagle numbers. Today, the survival of these magnificent raptors relies on preserving the ecosystems and open spaces that they rely upon for roaming, hunting and nesting.

Phil Lambert, who manages the San Diego Audubon Society's Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary near Lakeside, saw a Bald Eagle two weeks ago circling above the sanctuary's observation area. Flying about 100 ft. above the oak canopy while being attacked by a resident Red Tailed Hawk, this Bald Eagle sighting was only the sixth at Silverwood since 2011. Prior to that, Bald Eagles weren't even on Silverwood's bird list.

Human activity in the form of climate change, poisoning, collisions with buildings, aircraft, and windmills remain serious threats to eagles, but none is more severe than urbanization and habitat destruction, and declines in the availability of the species' natural prey.

Help This Bird: Bald Eagles are one of the nation's great recovery stories, and the ESA quickly demonstrated its value in helping to facilitate the bird's survival. But there are things we can do now, even without an endangered classification, to prevent Golden Eagles from being decimated in the same way Bald Eagles were in the mid-20th century.

Take a moment to let the San Diego County Board of Supervisors know you want protections enacted for Golden Eagle nesting sites on county land, and that you support a strong Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) for North County. Today is the last day to do so.

Let your supervisors know you especially support option five in the stakeholder survey that fulfills the county's General Plan goals, makes good on the planning and development that's been undertaken to date, and is the best option for the species covered under the plan, and for habitat connectivity in North County.

Fun Fact: Golden Eagles have the largest territory of any bird species in San Diego County.

Picture
A Golden Eagle in the Czech Republic, photographed by Martin Mecnarowski.
Picture
The Bald Eagle remains one of the ESA's great success stories. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    A former San Diego broadcaster and media personality, Tommy Hough is a wilderness and conservation advocate, communications professional, California Democratic Party delegate, and the co-founder and former president of San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action. He ran as the endorsed Democratic candidate for San Diego City Council in District 6 in 2018.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    December 2012
    April 2012
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    October 2010
    September 2010
    March 2010
    September 2009
    May 2009
    January 2009
    October 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    April 2007

    Categories

    All
    A16
    A-16
    Adventure 16
    Afoot And Afield
    Afoot And Afield In San Diego County
    Alaska
    Amy Gulick
    Ancient Forest
    Balboa Avenue Station Specific Plan
    Balboa Ave. Transit Station
    Balboa Park
    Bruce Coons
    Cabrillo Bridge
    Donate-a-Pack
    Donate-a-Pack Foundation
    Elsinore Fault
    Fort Tejon
    Fort Tejon Earthquake
    Friends Of Rose Creek
    Jacobs Plan
    Jerry Sanders
    Jerry Schad
    John D. Mead
    Kevin Faulconer
    Long Beach
    Long Beach Earthquake
    Midcoast Trolley Extension
    Mission Bay
    Mission Bay Drive
    Mount Soledad
    National Park Service
    Newport-Inglewood Fault
    Old-growth
    Old-growth Forest
    Organ Pavilion
    Palm Canyon
    Pat Abbott
    Plaza De Panama
    Rose Canyon Fault
    Rose Creek
    Salmon
    Salmon In The Trees
    San Andreas Fault
    San Diego
    San Diego Bay
    San Diego County
    San Diego Trolley
    San Jacinto Fault
    Save Our Heritage Organisation
    Soho
    Southeast-alaska
    Storm-water-division
    Temperate Rainforest
    The Salmon Way
    Tongass National Forest
    Tongass Rainforest
    Wilderness Press

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home   About    Media    Endorsements    Blog
​
Contact    Book Tommy
Copyright © 2007 – 2020 Tommy Hough