A Decade of Bald Eagle Surveys
Southwest Alaska Network. 2020. A Decade of Bald Eagle Surveys. Southwest Alaska Network, NPS
Katmai and Lake Clark national parks and preserves and Kenai Fjords National Park support large populations of bald eagles. As top predators, bald eagles serve as indicators of conditions in the terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems. Recent work on eagles in Lake Clark (Wilson et al. 2018) and Wrangell-St. Elias national parks and preserves (Schmidt et al. 2020) have shown that although populations are stable, the production of chicks can vary with spring temperature and salmon availability. Our bald eagle nest monitoring data from all three parks show the interannual variability that can occur in bald eagle populations in Southwest Alaska (see graphs). Although nest occupancy and productivity can vary from year to year due to myriad factors that include environmental conditions and measurement error, there is no discernable trend over the 10+ years for which we have data. This means that the population in southwest Alaska parks remains stable and healthy.
- Type
- Resource Brief
- Authors
- Southwest Alaska Network
- Date of Issue
- 2020-06
- Publisher
- Southwest Alaska Network, NPS
- Units
- KATM , KEFJ , LACL , SWAN
- Keywords
- bald eagle nests, monitoring