The symbol of America continues to thrive in the Bluegrass State and the Buckeye State.
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has announced that its 2024 annual spring survey, in a statement shared with the Dispatch, found a “robust” estimate of 841 active bald eagle nests, according to ODNR’s Division of Wildlife.
Here’s what to know.
Bald eagle nests in Kentucky growing
Kentucky recorded 187 bald eagle nests statewide in 2019, the last year data was available, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. That number has grown from 84 in 2010 and just one in 1986. COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 led to a pause in Kentucky’s bald eagle nest surveys. After that, Kentucky changed plans to monitor nests in a rotating list of three regions each year.
Bald eagle nest success rate, number of eaglets growing in Ohio
The average nest success rate, which is the number of nests that have eggs or eaglets, this year was 82%, according to ODNR. That’s a significant increase compared to 48% in 2022 and 73% in 2023.