The Southern Ontario Bald Eagle Monitoring Project, initiated in
1983, is a cooperative venture of the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources, Canadian Wildlife Service, Bird Studies Canada, community
organizations, landowners, and volunteer nest monitors. The primary
goal of the project is to restore a healthy, sustainable population of
Bald Eagles to the lower Great Lakes. Every year, landowners and
volunteer nest monitors collect valuable data on Bald Eagle nesting
chronology, nesting activity and productivity, which allows biologists
to monitor the health of the population.
The Southern Ontario Bald Eagle population has recovered
considerably in the last 20 years. The number of active nests and the
total number of eaglets produced has been increasing steadily, while
in recent years the occurrence of triplets has been on the rise.
Productivity (mean number of chicks fledged per nest) increased from
1980-1995, and then leveled off in the last five years at around
1.4-1.6 fledglings per nest. This report discusses the recovery of
Great Lakes Bald Eagles and suggests some future research directions.
