T he return of nesting bald eagles to Prince Edward Island is quite

a success story. I began working with the Fish and Wildlife Division in 1980 and have been visiting bald eagle nesting territories, banding and tracking eagles in here ever since. I have been witness to a past when most people thought that bald eagles were "bad" birds and sightings were rare. Today bald eagle sightings are common and a highlight of the day. Nesting eagles are now found throughout Prince Edward Island from Souris to Kildare Cape. I have documented the increasing number of bald eagle nesting territories from one territory to 50 known nesting territories in the past 26 years. In this article I will discuss the his-torical records of the bald eagle in Prince Edward Island and the rea-sons for its demise and return.

He is the greatest bird on Earth

According to Mi'kmaq legend, the bald eagle has inhabited the Island for thousands of years. As John Joe Sark relates: "Epekwitk [Prince Edward Island] was so beautiful

the Creator considered placing her among the stars of the universe. Nevertheless, he finally decided to place her in the middle of the singing waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He instructed Glooscap to carry her through the heavens and down to Mother Earth. When you reach Mother Earth, my beloved Kiptu (eagle) will join you. He is the greatest bird on Earth, and I have given him power to fly the highest and gifted him with great vision. Kiptu will become a protector of the Mi'kmaq people/'

This was an age when bald eagles had the respect of the people and the habitat to support a healthy popula-tion. For both the Mi'kmaq and the eagles, life was to change drastically with European settlement. In many ways their paths have paralleled each other.

The first documentation of eagles was in 1721. Denys de la Ronde, serving as an officer on lie Saint-Jean, sent a letter to the Minister of Marine which lists "des aigle fort gros" or "a very large eagle" as one of the birds found here. In 1805 John Stewart noted that the Island featured two kinds of eagles: Bald

(Falco leucocephalus) and Brown (Falco fulvus), though the latter was "not often seen." Stewart's Latin designation - Falco leucocephalus - was the one first devised by Carl Linnaeus in the 1760s. Today the species is classified as Haliaeetus leucocephalus. "Brown eagle" was another term for the "golden eagle" which, though sometimes spotted here, is not native to Prince Edward Island. Since it takes several years for the bald eagle's distinctive white head plumage to appear, Stewart was probably mistaking these birds for golden eagles. A few accounts of the Island published after Stewart's continue to mention both "Bald" and "Brown" eagles, but it is difficult to judge if the writers actually saw these birds or if they were simply copying Stewart's list. The majority of these early accounts don't men-tion eagles at all. Most descriptions of the Island were aimed at inform-ing visitors or attracting emigrants and dwelled on the province's gentle, rolling, pastoral landscape and its potential for farming. It is almost as if there was no room in their imag-ery for wild creatures like the bald eagle. By the late 1800s, there would

literally be no room for them in the landscape.

This raises the issue of how com-mon eagles were here by the mid-20th century. In 1891 Francis Bain wrote that the bald eagle visited Prince Edward Island but made no mention of them breeding here. In 1908 John MacSwain also recorded the bald eagle as a very rare visi-tor, not a species that nested here. In 1947 C.L. Broley reported that an eagle shot in Kings County had been banded by him in Florida in 1941. Broley was the first to dem-onstrate that a number of southern bald eagles migrate north to Prince Edward Island during the summer months. This further raises doubt whether Prince Edward Island actu-ally had nesting eagles at this time; as at least some of the immature birds sightings could have been migrants from Florida or other prov-inces or states. In 1961, Robie Tufts

was "quite positive that none has nested there [Prince Edward Island] for many years." As W.E. Godfrey summed up in his 1954 Birds of Prince Edward Island: "Great changes have come about in the environment since the days when the MicMac [sic] was the sole inhabitant and a splendid forest covered the land. In destroying the forests, man extir-pated the pileated woodpecker... Gun and axe have greatly reduced the birds of prey: the bald eagle no lon-ger resides there."

A major reason for the decline in population was loss of habitat. Settlement reshaped Prince Edward Island's landscape, with catastroph-ic results for much of the Island's native wildlife. Many species on were extirpated by the early 20th cen-tury including the black bear, otter, lynx, and marten. The Island was almost entirely forested before the first major influx of Europeans, the

only exceptions being wetlands and coastal sand dunes. But by the 1880s, the forest cover dwindled to an esti-mated 30%. Clearing land for farm-ing accounted for much of this. By 1891, over 80% of a population of 110,000 lived on over 14,000 farms. Eighty years of intensive shipbuild-ing also contributed to the loss of the forest. The shipbuilding industry collapsed in the 1880s, but by that time it had consumed almost all of the Island's large timber. By the turn of the 20th century, there were few nesting trees suitable for eagles on the "Million Acre Farm."

Eagles prefer to nest near rivers and wetlands - marginal farming land that was among the first to be abandoned when the 20th century shift from the country to the city and suburb began to take place. Forested area grew to 48% by 1990 and even though the landscape is, in many areas, covered with more fields than forests, the bald eagle has adapted well. Today by far the pre-ferred nest tree for the eagle is the white pine (Pinus strobus). The nests are located in an area of the tree above the forest canopy or lower if they were adjacent to an open area. The large size of the nest - they can weigh over 900 kilos - requires a sturdy tree. The white pine offers an open crown with sturdy horizontal limbs to bear a nest, and is gener-ally open enough to allow the adult bird easy access. The eagles will nest in the same tree year after year and continually add material to the nest. Some nests are over three metres deep and two metres wide. They are large enough that I have been able to sit in the nest to band the young eaglets - what a view!

"A bird of bad moral character" In addition to Native American cul-tures, the eagle was also a potent symbol in Europe. Ancient Rome, Napoleonic France, Russia, Austria, Germany - some of the biggest and most powerful empires in his-tory used the eagle as their prime emblem. In 1784, when a newly-independent United States was look-ing for an emblem for its coat or arms, Congress adopted a bald eagle with arrows in one talon, and an olive branch in the other. Benjamin

Franklin, in a famous letter to his daughter, "wish[ed] the bald eagle had not been chosen the living repre-sentative our country. He is a bird of bad moral character.... You may have seen him perched in some dead tree near the River where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour of the fishing hawk, and when that dili-gent bird has at length taken a fish... pursues and takes it from him/7*

Though he was writing, perhaps a little tongue in cheek, about the symbolic aspects of the bald eagle, Franklin neatly summarized a gap between perception and reality that influenced how setters would relate to the bald eagle. At one extreme was awe and admiration. "There are few, however imperfect their education, however grovelling their tenden-cies, however contracted their views and however slow of apprehension, that have not looked up with plea-sure at the noble eagle/7 wrote C. Birch Bagster in 1861. At the other extreme was fear and dislike - based mostly on misconception. Eagles feed mainly on fish, small birds and rodents. They are quite content with carrion. But they were linked in the imagination with powerful empires and mighty armies. They looked like deadly hunters - a large version of a hawk or falcon capable of killing much bigger prey - small livestock, for instance. Thus, many thought of them as a nuisance bird that could interfere with a farm's livelihood.

Henry Mellish, who wrote of growing up in the Elmira area in the 1860s, recalled: "Sometimes we tethered an old hen in the barnyard and waited for a hawk to come; once in a long while we would get one but it was too tedious and uncer-tain a sport for us. There were a few eagles, but they seldom came near/7

When they did come near, they were often shot. In 1911 a farmer in Cape Traverse shot a large eagle that was flying over his house, then sent it to Charlottetown to be mounted. Blythe Hurst Sr. recorded several cases of eagles being shot in Kings and Queens County in 1939-1940. Ludlow Jenkins recalled how, in the

*Franklin's own choice for an American national emblem was the turkey; "a much more respect-able bird... though a little vain and silly, a Bird of courage."

11 early 1950s, "the last eagles to nest on PET7 were encouraged to emi-grate after their nest was repeated-ly destroyed by local residents. The Fish and Game Protection Act of 1951 classed them as a nuisance, along with hawks and owls - pests that could be shot in any season without a license.

These practices weren't limited to Prince Edward Island. In 1961, Robie Tufts described how a Nova Scotia farmer waited until a nest contained young and then felled the tree, killed the young and wounded one of the adults. The other adult would not come within range so escaped being shot. When the farmer was questioned why he had done it, the farmer replied "Well - I don't know - eagles are bad birds aren't they?77

The overall at t i tude toward these former "bad birds77 has cer-tainly changed over the past 30 years. Eagles, hawks and owls are now protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act. The role that birds of prey play in the ecosystem is

now better understood. Programs like the "Adopt an Eagle77 run by the Island Nature Trust have also helped change attitudes. People pay to adopt and eagle, and the money goes toward protecting wildlife habitat. Many school classes raise money for this cause throughout Prince Edward Island and in return Island Nature Trust sends a staff member to their schools to give presentations on the bald eagle.

Some of the lucky classes even get the opportunity to take a field trip to an eagle nest and watch a young eagle get banded. The stu-dents get to see "first hand77 what an eagles nest looks like and are impressed with the size of the young bird. Some get to actually touch an eagle and help band it. To this date, over two thousand Islanders have experienced bald eagles first hand because of this program. Another program the Island Nature Trust has implemented is the "Eagle Watch.77

Volunteers are assigned nests and encouraged to report on nesting

activity and potential threats. This not only helps protect the nest sites but provides valuable information for managing eagles to the Forest; Fish and Wildlife Division.

Bird banding data are useful in both research and management projects. Individual identification of eagles makes possible studies of dispersal and migration behaviour and social structure, lifespan and survival rate, reproductive success and population growth. Band returns would suggest that bald eagles born in Prince Edward Island are not truly migratory, although some move throughout the Maritime Provinces and along the border area between Maine and New Brunswick. Human activities in other regions of the Maritimes can thus affect the eagle population in Prince Edward Island. An eagle found here may not have hatched in Prince Edward Island but could be from Nova Scotia or as far south as Florida. Radio-collared

bald eagles from Florida have fur-ther demonstrated that Florida eagles travel as far north as Prince Edward Island.

Fouling the nest In addition to loss of habitat and human predation, pollution was con-sidered a major factor in the decline of the eagle population. In the 195C/S it was noted that bald eagle num-bers in the southern United States states were taking nose dive. This was attributed to the widespread use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a pesticide that accumulat-ed in the liver and caused birds to lay eggs with thinner-than-normal shells. With fewer embryos hatching successfully, the general population began to decline.

The recent increase in eagle nest-ing territories throughout North America has been attributed to a

ban on (DDT) and similar chemi-cals in the early 1970^. However, in the Maritimes, shooting, habitat destruction, and disturbance dur-ing the nesting season were more important factors in the decline of eagle populations. On Prince Edward Island, it is probable there was no resident eagle population at all when DDT first came into general use. No doubt eggshell-thinning would have manifested itself had the eagles had the habitat and social approval to be able to nest here in the first place!

There are of course many more poisons in the environment that have and continue to affect bald eagles. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) causes sterile eggs, mortal-ity within the egg, or changes in the behaviour of adults who will sub-sequently ignore proper care of the eggs. Mercury causes sterility. Lead can cause difficulties with balance, tremors, convulsions and impaired judgment in eagles. Unlike PCBs and mercury, which found their way into the environment through industri-al activity and landfills, the main source of lead has been bird shot and lead sinkers ingested by fish, which the eagles then ingest when they hunt or scavenge. Hunting waterfowl with lead shot is now prohibited, but though banned in National Parks, lead sinkers are still used extensively throughout the rest of the province. It is interesting to note that these chemicals pollut-ants have major health implications to human beings. If we poison the environment, we poison ourselves. A healthy eagle population is a positive sign for human society.

"The eagles are back" In the fall of 1966, the Provincial Fish and Wildlife Division recorded an eagles nest along the Brudenell River. The next year it was confirmed as producing young! The nest remained active through 1968, when one of the adults was shot and killed. By this time, though, the birds were pro-tected by law - the killer was tried, convicted and received a $20 fine.

Eagles mate for life and with so few eagles in the province at that time, it was no wonder it took so long for the remaining eagle to find a new mate. In 1975 a single eagle

Figure 1: Eagle Nest Territories

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was observed at the Brudenell nest on five occasions; but it was not until 1978 that the nest once again pro-duced young. At this time the bald eagle was still considered a transient in Prince Edward Island and rare in all seasons. In 1982 a second nest-ing territory was located near Savage Harbour, and the eagle population has steadily increased since then. A total of 50 nesting areas have now been identified as eagle nesting ter-ritories throughout Prince Edward Island; east from the Souris area; west to the Alberton area. Today in some lucky areas, 'lone eagles" are rare, but only because they're usually seen in a convocation of three or more.

Eagles are u n d e r p r o v i n c i a l jur isdict ion in Canada. The laws and penalties for killing them dif-fer greatly from one province to another. This leads to inconsistency in management. Under the Wildlife Conservation Act, (1988) the fine for killing an eagle here ranges from $200 to $2,000 for a first offence and $400 to $10,000 for a second. There is no specific protect ion for bald eagle nest trees or habitat on Prince Edward Island. As the eagles move throughout the region they will be subject to the specific protections (or lack thereof) associated with each Maritime Province.

In te rac t ion w i th h u m a n s was and is the single most impor tan t

factor affecting bald eagles on Prince Edward Is land. Their con t inued breeding success will depend on nesting habitat being available to a growing eagle population. Economic, social and ecological buffers that help protect and enhance habitat are needed to ensure that the bald eagle remains a part of Prince Edward Island's landscape. It is our largest raptor and brings people great plea-sure at the mere sight of one. Unlike many wild species that have been lost to this Island forever, we've have a chance to welcome the eagle back.

Mi'kmaq legend describes eagles as curious birds. When the people lit a fire, the eagle would see the smoke and come to see what was going on. The eagles would also fly overhead when the Mi'kmaq were drumming. "When we stopped drumming the eagles s topped coming," John Joe Sark explained. "Now we are drum-ming again and the eagles are back."

Sources Denys de la Ronde's account of the Island can be found in Earle Lockerby's "Two Early Descriptions of Prince Edward Island" (The Island Magazine, #60). John Stewart's list of native birds is in his Account of Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, 1805). Birch Bagster's Progress and Prospects of Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, i860)

and Henry Mellish's memoir Timothy's Boyhood (Kentville, 1934) are among the few historical works that mention eagles.

Andrew Hill Clark's Three Centuries and the Island (Toronto, 1959) and Douglas Sobey's Early Descriptions of the Forests of Prince Edward Island: A Source Book. Part I The French Period - 1534-1758 are also useful sources. Useful natural histories and studies include Francis Bain's Birds of Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, 1891); J. MacSwain's "A catalogue of birds of Prince Edward Island," (Nova Scotia Bird Society Newsletter, 1908); C.L. Broley's "Migration and Nesting of Florida Bald Eagles," The Wilson Bulletin, 1947); Biythe Hurst's. The birds of Prince Edward Island, (Charlottetown, 1947); W.E. Godfrey's "Birds of Prince Edward Island," (National Museum of Canada Bulletin, 1954) and Robbie Tufts' The Birds of Nova Scotia, (Halifax, 1961). Other useful studies and articles include: E.F. Gittens. A study of the status of the Bald Eagle in Nova Scotia, (Unpublished masters thesis, Acadia University, 1968); J.W. Grier's "Ban of DDT and Subsequent Recovery of Reproduction in Bald Eagles," (Science, 1982) and S.N. Wiemeyer, T.G. Lamont, CM. Bunk, C.R Sidelar, F.J. Gramlich, J.D Fraser, & M.A. Byrd. "Organochlorine pesticide, polychlorobi-phenyl, and mercury residues in bald eagle eggs, 1969-79 and their relationships to shell thinning and repro-duction," (Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1984). Useful provincial and o ther gove rnmen t reports include: State of the Forest Report 1990-2000, (Charlottetown, 2002) ; Moving to Restore a Balance in Island forests Prince Edward Island Forest Policy, (Charlottetown, 2006); C. Snow's Habitat Management Series for Endangered Species, (Wash ing ton , 1973) and R.F Stocek and PA. Pearce's The Bald Eagle and the Osprey in the Maritime Provinces (Ottawa, 1978).