Pictured is a bald eagle’s nest with three fledgling eaglets taken earlier this year in Ottawa County.
COLUMBUS — A report released Monday by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife indicates the state’s bald eagle population continues to thrive.
The annual spring survey of bald eagle nesting sites showed 841 active nests statewide. Last year’s survey showed 910 nests in Ohio, but ODNR officials said key indicators suggest that Ohio’s bald eagle population is resilient and continues to thrive.
The average nest success rate, which is the number of nests that have eggs or eaglets, this year was 82%, compared to 48% in 2022 and 73% in 2023, according to ODNR officials.
The Division of Wildlife’s 2024 nesting survey consisted of flying five blocks — each roughly 10 square miles — to search for nests in woodlots and along rivers. ODNR surveys two of the blocks annually, one near Sandusky on Lake Erie and the other over Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area in Northeast Ohio.
This year the remaining three target areas included Auglaize and Mercer counties around Grand Lake St. Marys, Defiance and Henry counties along the Maumee River and the Killbuck Marsh Area Wildlife Area in Wayne County.
All Ohioans can report a bald eagle nest at wildohio.gov or through the HuntFish OH mobile app.
The bald eagle was once an endangered species, with only four nesting pairs in Ohio in 1979, according to the ODNR release. Thanks to partnerships between the Division of Wildlife, Ohio zoos, wildlife rehabilitation facilities, concerned landowners and conservationists its population increased. The bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2007 and from Ohio’s list in 2012.
