WASHINGTON — Leaders in the nation’s capital are optimistic the nation’s bird has again found a permanent home here.
There are now three nesting pairs of bald eagles in Washington. 鈥淚t symbolizes the environmental success and progress that we鈥檝e made in this city,鈥� says D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually been very extraordinary over the last 10, 20 years.鈥�
The birds disappeared in the 1940s but were reintroduced starting in the 1990s. 聽
鈥淯ltimately it鈥檚 worked, but it had to work in tandem with cleaning up the Anacostia,鈥� Cheh says.
Speaking outside the Wilson Building in an effort to raise awareness of D.C.鈥檚 bald eagles, Cheh also says she supports an effort to officially make June 20th Bald Eagle Day.
Cheh was joined by Challenger, a trained bald eagle called 鈥渢he most famous eagle in the world鈥� by handler Al Cecere, president of the American Eagle Foundation. He believes the region could be home to dozens more bald eagles.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got plenty of trees, plenty of waterways, a lot of fish,鈥� in addition to tall trees for the eagles to make nests in.
Dan Rauch, a biologist with the District Department of the Environment, thinks it鈥檚 especially impressive the bald eagles are coming back to louder areas of the city.
鈥淚f you go to a nest, you鈥檙e going to hear the Metro, you鈥檙e going to hear helicopters going overhead, you鈥檙e going to hear ambulances going by,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e really urbanized in order to survive.鈥�
Rauch says bald eagles are currently nesting near the National Arboretum, the Blue Plains police training academy and the St. Elizabeth鈥檚 campus.聽Like Cecere, he thinks D.C. is ripe with locations for future eagles鈥� nests. Specifically, areas along the C&O Canal, like Fletcher’s Cove, would 鈥渄efinitely鈥� make a suitable home for eagles, since others already nest across the Potomac River in Virginia. He also envisions another pair nesting at the Arboretum, and yet another at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
鈥淎nd even further down, there鈥檚 Oxon Cove鈥� that鈥檚 a fantastic place for an eagle pair as well,鈥� Rauch says.
