Breeding Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Population and Demographic Trends in Florida, 1972–2017

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The range-wide recovery of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of the great North American conservation successes, with the Bald Eagle population in Florida contributing substantially to this recovery. Florida has one of the densest concentrations of nesting Bald Eagles in the lower 48 states and sustained a population monitoring program that spanned 45 yr. We used nest monitoring data from 1972–2017 to quantify changes in the size, extent, and productivity of the breeding Bald Eagle population in Florida. We documented an increase in the number of occupied Bald Eagle territories from 88 in 1973 to an estimated 1565 in 2017, with nests recorded in 64 of Florida's 67 counties by the end of the monitoring efforts. Mean annual growth rate in the number of occupied eagle territories in Florida was 5.5 ± 1.1% (SE). High reproductive rates, exemplified by a mean productivity of 1.13 ± 0.02 fledglings per occupied nest, a mean brood size of 1.54 ± 0.01 fledglings per successful nest, and the production of nearly 40,000 fledglings over a 45-yr period, translated into substantial gains for the state and southeastern US Bald Eagle population. Eagles have established a large, spatially expansive, and productive breeding population in Florida, one that exceeded the conservation objectives established when the species was state-delisted in 2008. These data provided key insights into the breeding ecology, recovery, and long-term stability of Bald Eagles in Florida. Given the predicted increase in the human population and landscape modification anticipated in the coming years, the conservation of the eagle population within Florida will require adaptive management strategies.