First home-grown bald eagle in more than a century takes flight

Wednesday, July 1, 1998 | 2:16 a.m.

The eaglet at Lahontan Reservoir is the first documented case of a bald eagle to be fledged in the Silver State for more than 120 years, according to Larry Neel, a regional non-game biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

A weekly welfare check on the eaglet that hatched in April on the Silver Springs Bay area of Lahontan Reservoir found the eaglet further from its nesting tree than ever before.

"We know it has flown some distance," Neel said early Tuesday. Although the flying was not witnessed, he guessed it was about a 200-yard flight.

It won't grow its trademark white head and tail until it is 5 years old. Immature eaglets also have brown eyes and beak, unlike their adult counterparts whose beaks and eyes are yellow.

Wildlife officials believe the Lahontan eaglet is a female because of the longer length of time it took it to fledge and the calmness it displayed in the nest.

Buoys keep recreational vehicles and bird-watchers away. Even wildlife officials stay outside the buoys placed 175 yards from the nest, which probably was originally built by a great blue heron and then adapted to the parent bald eagles' needs.

The fledgling is at a critical point where it will have to learn to fish and care for itself, Neel said. The adult birds are likely giving their offspring flying lessons to become adept at swooping down on its prey.

"It still has lots to learn," Neel said.

It is obvious to wildlife officials that the parental protection instincts are dwindling as the young bird begins to fly. An adult bird protecting the fledgling stayed perched in a tree and allowed officials to get closer than ever before.

The chance of survival looks good for this raptor, though it will face the same perils of other migratory birds, Neel said.

The eagles and offspring were first noticed in the tree last year after being spotted by a water biologist conducting an aerial survey.

"We weren't expecting anything like this at all," Neel said.

A baby chick was seen April 1997 but it is believed that at 10 weeks it was blown out of the nest during a windy Memorial Day.

This year, state park, Fish and Wildlife officials and the Nevada Department of Wildlife coordinated efforts to protect the latest offspring.

One of the two eaglets is believed to have died in May, though wilflife experts say that is common.

Now, the adult bald eagles, which have a life span of about 45 years, are expected to continue using the same nest annually. It could mean a new eaglet every year, Neel said.

The last recorded active bald eagle nest in Nevada was in the 1870s on Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake.