MAJESTY ON DISPLAY AT EAGLES DAYS

If you have ever wanted to get a good look at a bald eagle, you are in luck.

Next weekend, Feb. 3-4, the Missouri Department of Conservation, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, will host Eagle Days. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge and Duck Creek Conservation Area. Both areas are located along Highway 51, north of Puxico.

To the surprise of most people, Missouri is one of the leading bald eagle states. Each fall, thousands of these great birds migrate south from their nesting range in Canada and the Great Lakes states to hunt around the open waters of our rivers and lakes.

Many take up residence wherever they find open water and plentiful food. Missouri, because of its big rivers, many lakes and wetland areas, is especially attractive to these huge, magnificent birds.

More than 2,500 bald eagles were reported in Missouri during a recent winter, making our state the leader in the lower 48 states.

Like wolves, lions and other large predators, eagles have captured man's imagination throughout the centuries. It is logical that early settlers in the New World selected the bald eagle, a true American species, as a favorite.

In 1782 -- the year the bald eagle was formally adopted as our national emblem -- bald eagles were probably flourishing, with as many as 20,000 nesting pairs in what is now the United States.

In the 200 years since the bald eagle became our symbol of strength and freedom, its numbers have suffered a great decline. Victims of human encroachment, habitat destruction, environmental contamination and open persecution, by the late 1800s bald eagles were already restricted to their current breeding stronghold: Alaska, Canada, the Great Lakes States and the Pacific Northwest. At one time, there were only 3,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.

Concerned about their plight, the federal government in 1978 declared the bald eagle an endangered species in 43 states, including Missouri.

Since then, the bald eagle has recovered dramatically from the low numbers of the 1960s and 1970s. Today, there are more than 10,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. In 1995, the bald eagle's status was downgraded from endangered to threatened throughout this range.

Although to closely protect Missouri's nesting eagles, bald eagles are still recognized as state endangered.

Nesting bald eagles were common in Missouri in the early 1800s. By 1890, they were nearly eliminated as nesters.

There were few verified eagle nests in Missouri during the first half of this century.

Between 1965 and 1982, there were no known nestings; however, since then bald eagles have become regular breeders in Missouri.

Eagle nests are found across the state, mostly in southeast and central Missouri.

From 1981 to 1990, the Missouri Department of Conservation, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Dickerson Park Zoo of Springfield, released 74 young bald eagles in Missouri to reestablish them as nesters.

Eaglets six to seven weeks old were obtained from captive breeding facilities or healthy wild populations and released each summer from artificial nests into areas with good nesting habitat. Young bald eagles were released from sites at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Missouri and Schell-Osage Conservation Area north of El Dorado Springs.

The young eagles imprinted on these regions where they took their first flights, and now some have returned to Missouri to breed as adults.

This program, plus the eagle's tendency to naturally return to its former nesting range, has enabled eagles to once again nest in Missouri.

During the nesting season, bald eagles are rather solitary. But during winter migration, they become sociable, forming loose flocks in areas where there are remote trees for roosting.

Nearly 400 have been counted at one time on Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri, one of the highest concentrations anywhere.

A few bald eagles are usually seen in Missouri by mid-fall and most arrive in December.

In some cases, a bird will return to the same location each winter.

At waterfowl areas, eagles feed primarily on dead and injured waterfowl. At rivers and lakes, fish make up most of their diet. Eagles usually locate prey by soaring or watching from a high perch. Piracy is another way eagles get food. If one bird makes a prize catch, others will often try to take the food away. As areas in north Missouri freeze, some eagles will migrate on to open water, scattering to favorable spots as far south as the Gulf Coast. They begin moving back north again in late February. By May, most have returned to their nests along the lakes and streams in the northern pine forests.

Join in the activities at the Mingo visitor center which will include a live eagle presentation, exhibits, activities, and videos. Both Mingo National Wildlife Refuge and Duck Creek Conservation Area will have guides with spotting scopes and binoculars. Wear warm clothing and don't forget your camera.

-- Gene Myers is a Missouri Departement of Conservation agent in Cape Girardeau County.