chicago — Bald eagle hatchlings have been spotted in a nest in a Chicago park, in what city officials believe is the first successful wild breeding of the raptor in the Windy City in more than a century.
Chicago Park District officials announced last week that bird watchers had observed nesting activity starting in February at Park 597 along the Calumet River on the city’s southeast side. The first eagle was spotted in the nest on April 28 and the second was confirmed on May 7.
The eagles appear to be two to three weeks old, said Irene Tostado, a spokeswoman for the park district.
Pat Pearson and her husband, Steve, discovered the first eagle.
“We started looking around and here was this fuzzy little head sticking up into a big beak and we were so ecstatic. Patty just burst into tears,” Steve Pearson said. And I started crying.” “It was really very emotional, because we had this kind of instinct, I think, just amazement and awe at seeing these eagles here in Chicago with a little baby. “It was really overwhelming.”
Habitat degradation and pesticide contamination of food sources decimated bald eagle populations in the second half of the 20th century, but the bird has made a significant comeback over the past 40 years. The bald eagle – the official national bird of the United States – was removed from the federal list of threatened species in 2007.
It’s not an uncommon sight in the Chicago area. The park district said it counted dozens of bald eagles in Big Marsh Park’s restored wetlands on a single day in 2018. But Steven Bell, who oversees Park 597, said his staff has found no record of a successful eagle hatching in Chicago in more than 100 years.
Park 597 was home to the city’s water treatment plant until the park district acquired the property in 2019 and began restoring its natural habitat. Improving soil, improving vegetation and improving habitat for amphibians and reptiles have attracted muskrats, mice and deer as well as eagles, Bell said.
“Give Mother Nature a chance and you’ll be surprised at what she can do with a little help from the Park District and the City of Chicago,” Pat Pearson said. “Neither organization could have done it on their own, but between these two, it’s shocking what can happen to landing in areas you think are completely beyond repair.”
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Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press photographer Erin Holley contributed.