U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Eagle Cam

About the Eagle Cam

A bald eagle nest located along the Potomac River is the focus of this live Web cam maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The nest at Shepherdstown, W.Va., is on the grounds of the USFWS National Conservation Training Center, on the historic river upstream from Washington, D.C. The nest has been active now for four seasons, fledging several juvenile bald eagles. A large international community viewing the bald eagle Web cam has developed as a result of the presence of the nesting pair. Eagle cam fans are currently celebrating the hatching of a new eaglet. Check the cam regularly and see what’s for dinner and how the new family is fairing.

Check out the eagle blog here: http://www.eaglecam.blogspot.com/

Eagle nest Location

The bald eagle nest is on the Potomac River approximately 75 miles from Washington, D.C., on the campus of The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

Eagle Facts

Adults measure from 30 to 40 inches from head to tail, with a 7-8 foot wingspan, and weigh from 8 to 14 pounds. The female is larger than the male.

The distinctive white head and tail feathers appear when the eagles mature at 4 or 5 years old.

Bald eagles are believed to live 30 years or longer in the wild. They mate for life, building huge nests in the tops of large trees near rivers, lakes, and other wetlands.

The adults will often return to the same nest year after year making additions to the nest each year. Some nests can reach up to 10 feet across and weigh up to 2000 pounds.

Eagles feed primarily on fish, but will also feed on ducks, rodents, snakes, and carrion.

Both the male and female build the nest, but the female chooses the nest tree. Both will defend the nest territory which is usually several square miles, depending on habitat and the proximity of other nesting eagles.

The female will lay 1 to 3 (usually 2) eggs 2 to 3 days apart. The eggs are about 3 inches long and are an off-white color. Incubation is done by both parents and lasts about 35 days.

The young will stay in the nest about 11 to 12 weeks when the adults will start encouraging them to fly. The eaglets can often be seen exercising their wings on the nest or on a nearby branch several days prior to fledging (first flight from the nest).

The young will stay at or near the nest for the next 6 weeks while the adults continue to feed them and teach them to hunt and fish on their own. Young eagles are believed to return to within 100 miles or so of their own nest site when they reach maturity and are ready to mate.

Bald eagle populations started to decline in the late 1940's coinciding with the introduction of the pesticide DDT. Breeding pairs dropped to about 450 in the lower 48 states. This led to their being designated as an endangered species in 1978. The use of DDT in the United States was banned in 1972. This and other recovery efforts have helped the bald eagle to recover. They were downgraded to threatened status in 1995. On August 9, 2007, the bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. A wintering population survey of North America in 1997 resulted in a count of 96,648 individuals, with about 75% occurring in Alaska and British Columbia .

West Virginia state biologists believe there are about a dozen or so nesting pairs in the Eastern Panhandle area.

ABOUT THE U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. It is the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is management of these important natural resources for the American public. The Service also helps ensure a healthy environment for people through its work benefiting wildlife, and by providing opportunities for Americans to enjoy the outdoors and our shared natural heritage.

The Service is responsible for implementing and enforcing some of our Nation’s most important environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, North American Wetlands Conservation Act, and Lacey Act. The Service fulfills these and other statutory responsibilities through a diverse array of programs, activities, and offices that function to:

Protect and recover threatened and endangered species
Monitor and manage migratory birds
Restore nationally significant fisheries
Enforce federal wildlife laws and regulate international wildlife trade
Conserve and restore wildlife habitat such as wetlands
Help foreign governments conserve wildlife through international conservation efforts
Distribute hundreds of millions of dollars to States, territories and tribes for fish and wildlife conservation projects

The Service also manages the 96 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System, the world’s preeminent system of public lands devoted to protection and conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats. The 548 units of the Refuge System receive over 40 million visitors each year who participate in hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, environmental education and interpretation, and other outdoor recreation activities. Within the Fisheries program, the Service operates 70 National Fish Hatcheries, which in conjunction with Fish Health Centers and Fish Technology Centers restore native aquatic populations, mitigate for fisheries lost as a result of federal water projects, and support recreational fisheries throughout the United States.

Learn More Here

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