Pennsylvania may De-list Bald Eagle as Threatened Species

Pennsylvania is considering taking the bald eagle off of the state's threatened species list, citing increasing numbers of the iconic birds.

Next month the state's Board of Game Commissioners will formally consider a recommendation by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Wildlife Management to de-list the species and will make an official ruling at a later date.

If the recommendation goes through, the status of the state's bald eagles would change from "threatened" to "protected."

Monday the wildlife bureau's Endangered and Nongame Bird chief Doug Gross said this year 266 nesting pairs of bald eagles have been confirmed in the state, a number that is expected to rise as the official count is finalized and the general upward population trend continues. Last year 237 nesting pairs were documented in the state.

"This year marks just another high point in the spectacular and widespread recovery of bald eagles in Pennsylvania, and it's clear that the definition of a threatened species no longer describes them accurately," Gross said in statement released Wednesday.

The move to de-list the bald eagle's status from threatened falls in line with the state's official definition of a threatened species which contends that a species "may become endangered in the foreseeable future."

A recommendation to take the bald eagle off the threatened species list is not without its qualifications. The Pennsylvania Game Commission plan to de-list the bird calls for four criteria to be met for five consecutive years:

• There must be at least 150 active nests statewide;
• Successful pairs in at least 40 counties;
• At least a 60 percent success rate of known nests;
• Productivity of at least 1.2 eaglets fledged per successful nest.

"Three of those criteria already have been met for a five-year span, and eagles in 2013 will exceed for a fifth-straight year the requirement of nesting successfully in at least 40 counties," the Pennsylvania Game Commission stated.

Gross said determining nest success is the biggest challenge in eagle monitoring efforts.

"It seems that each passing year writes a new chapter in the story of the bald eagle's success in Pennsylvania and the latest numbers, and the recommendation to de-list the eagle as a state threatened species, is the best news yet," said Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. "But the story isn't over. Pennsylvania has plenty of good bald-eagle habitat that's not currently being used by eagles. And as the years roll on, I'm sure eagles will give us plenty more to celebrate."