\u201cThey\u2019re like teenagers\u201d<\/h2>\n
Bald eagles nest in mature conifers and tall hardwoods, whose solid branches can support the weight of their massive dwellings. To replicate this, Tina and other researchers built a 1.5m eyrie using branches and sticks, designing it to resemble a natural nest as closely as possible, and placed it at the top of a tower made of telegraph poles. Two nine-week-old eaglets, who arrived by plane on 18th June, were the first to be installed. Tina recalls how, with beaks clacking and wings flailing, the youngsters \u201cleapt onto the nest and stood like statues\u201d.<\/p>\n
And so began Tina\u2019s new normal. Her accommodation was a tent at the foot of the tower (which flooded on her first night); her bathroom a latrine she dug herself. Other than the young eaglets above, her two dogs were her only companions.<\/p>\n
Every day, Tina would rise at dawn and climb the tower to feed and care for her \u2018babies\u2019. She hadn\u2019t told anyone that she was terrified of heights. With no manual to follow, she started by rigging up a long stick with a barbecue fork taped to the end, offering the birds carp she had fished herself from the spillway of a nearby dam. So that the eaglets wouldn\u2019t associate humans with food, she had to conceal herself in a tiny hide, sitting cross-legged for hours at a time.<\/p>\n
In the wild, bald eagles teach their young everything they need to know before fledging, such as how to swoop down and grab a fish from the river, and how to tear into its flesh with their curved beaks. \u201cParents normally break the prey open and let their chicks pull the meat out,\u201d says Tina. \u201cBut these youngsters had to figure out how to break into a big, scaly fish on their own. They had to try everything out for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
During those early weeks, Tina spent hours noting down everything the eaglets did \u2013 feeding, preening, squabbling, flapping their wings. In time, she fitted the youngsters with radio-collars so that, when they fledged, she could track their movements and locate them when they inevitably fell and needed assistance. She learned everything there was to learn about how these birds grow and develop. \u201cThey\u2019re like teenagers,\u201d she recalls. \u201cYou find yourself sort of chuckling at some of the crazy things they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the bond she felt as their sole caretaker, Tina didn\u2019t find it hard to remain aloof from her young charges. \u201cEagles are wild,\u201d she says. \u201cI know they could hurt me \u2013 if I tried to hug them, I would not be very happy, and neither would they.\u201d Above all, she wanted to see the birds flying free.<\/p>\n
Flying the nest<\/h2>\n
Adult eagles might soar majestically through the air, but their first forays into flight are rather less elegant. A fledgling is clumsy and doesn\u2019t know how to land on tree branches, often descending to the ground like an \u201cout-of-control helicopter\u201d. While Tina\u2019s eaglets were adapting to life in the air, she was on hand to rescue them after any mishaps. \u201cIf an eagle fell from the tower when practising for take-off,\u201d she says, \u201cI had to capture and restrain it, and carry it back up the ladder to the nest without being torn apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, the young birds started to venture further from home, and Tina was filled with pride when, through her binoculars, she witnessed one of them make its first kill. She had succeeded in raising her charges to independence; before long, they would leave the tower for good and, hopefully, raise families of their own.<\/p>\n
In September 1976, another young eagle came into Tina\u2019s care, but was found dead, caught on a barbed-wire fence. Four more arrived in June 1977 and the process started again, this time with a bigger nest and researchers shadowing Tina in order to continue her work. A month later, a fifth bird, found in Minnesota with a broken leg, joined the foursome following its rehabilitation. This individual would go on to live for 38 years \u2013 the oldest bald eagle ever known \u2013 and produce an incredible 70 young.<\/p>\n
Bald eagles can reach as much as 6.5kg in weight with a wingspan of up to two and a half metres, with females usually slightly larger than males. Their piercing yellow eyes can spot prey from 3km, and they can plummet at a breakneck speed of around 160kph to grab fish from the water with their piercing talons. The sight of these powerful birds can take your breath away, and despite having worked with them so closely, that\u2019s still the case for Tina. \u201cI\u2019m used to seeing them and I\u2019ve seen many,\u201d she says. \u201cBut they still have that effect on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original aim of the hacking project was to boost numbers of breeding pairs in New York State, with the hope that the birds might disperse into neighbouring New England, \u201cso we could also boost the population there from practically nothing to something,\u201d says Tina. She could never have imagined just how effective the programme would be. By 2023, there were 426 breeding eagle pairs in New York and 917 in New England.<\/p>\n Thanks to its success, and that of other repopulation projects, plus the ban on DDT, the bald eagle had recovered enough to be delisted from the USA\u2019s Endangered Species Act in 2007. Today, it can be found in every US state except Hawaii, and is designated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.<\/p>\n In many ways, the eagle\u2019s resilience mirrors Tina\u2019s own refusal to succumb to the many obstacles she faced. As a young woman in a male-dominated field, she had no female role-models to turn to for advice and inspiration. But she didn\u2019t let the challenges distract her from her main goal: keeping her chicks alive. \u201cThe entire nation is going to know if they die,\u201d she would tell herself, \u201cAnd it will be on your watch.\u201d<\/p>\n She took things one day, one moment, at a time. \u201cI\u2019ve got to make sure they have enough food. I\u2019ve got to protect them, and I basically have to do what their parents would do,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIf I do that, we\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Though bald eagles are flying once again in America\u2019s skies, challenges remain. Poaching, avian flu, vehicle collisions, poisoning from lead shot used by hunters and chemical pollution all pose risks, and windfarms near nests can harm juveniles. \u201cYoung birds are very clumsy,\u201d Tina says. \u201cIf they flew towards a windfarm, they wouldn\u2019t be able to avoid those huge paddles.\u201d<\/p>\n As someone who has always tried to avoid the limelight, Tina has, over the years, learned the power of telling the story of bald eagles. \u201cBirds can\u2019t speak,\u201d she says, \u201cand the only way we can save them \u2013 and all wildlife \u2013 is to speak for them\u201d.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> by Melissa Hobson was first published by Discover Wildlife on 14 March 2025. Lead Image: Getty.<\/i><\/p>\n Wildlife continues to face threats, which include hunting, poaching, illegal trade in animal products, habitat loss as well as a rapidly changing climate.<\/p>\n Become a Wildlife Champion today by supporting our conservation partners<\/a> with a monthly donation as little as $1.<\/p>\nAn uncertain future<\/h2>\n
What you can do<\/h2>\n