Game and Fish documents first bald eagle nest in saguaro cactus
Posted 4/15/20
It has long been speculated that bald eagles could use saguaro cacti as nesting sites. Now the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has documented proof.
During recent eagle survey flights …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Game and Fish documents first bald eagle nest in saguaro cactus
Posted
It has long been speculated that bald eagles could use saguaro cacti as nesting sites. Now the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has documented proof.
During recent eagle survey flights conducted by the department, officials were delighted to discover a pair of bald eagles with eaglets nesting in the arms of a large saguaro near a central Arizona reservoir.
According to Kenneth “Tuk” Jacobson, AZGFD’s raptor management coordinator, biologists searched historical records in the 1970s for bald eagle nesting sites in Arizona. They discovered a 1937 record from Kermit Lee of Lee’s Trading Post where there is mention of large nests in saguaros along the lower Verde River that were believed to be occupied by bald eagles. There was no documentation or photos to back up those sightings.
While there have been confirmed sightings of bald eagles nesting in the similarly columnar Cardon and Hecho cacti in Mexico, biologists have been searching for a pair of bald eagles nesting in an Arizona saguaro for decades without success — until now.
“It’s been an 18-year trek for me, keeping my eye out for a bald eagle nest in a saguaro, so finally finding one is amazing,” Mr. Jacobson stated in a news release.