Kathleen Shannon, Writer
Public News Service - National
Montanans are celebrating the official designation of the bald eagle as America's national bird after helping in its recovery.
Once close to extinction, conservation efforts, including private land donations for nesting habitats, helped restore the state's bald eagle population to roughly 700 breeding pairs today.
It was no small feat because the species reproduces slowly and some of its nesting habitat was lost to development.
Aimee Delach, senior policy analyst at Defenders of Wildlife, said the recognition for the birds was long overdue.
"There are almost 70 species of eagle across the world but the bald eagle is the only one that's found only in North America," Delach explained. "It really is our national bird, as far as its territory and range."
Delach acknowledged many people assumed the bald eagle was already the national bird.
While it has been a symbol on the country's seal for centuries, it was never officially designated.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are roughly 300,000 in the U.S. today.
State wildlife agencies began aerial surveys of bald eagle nests in the early 1970s as the bird's numbers plummeted.
Scientists believed pesticides like DDT were working their way up the eagle's food chain in a process known as biomagnification.
Delach noted the pesticides interfered with the bald eagle's calcium levels, which made eggshells weak and less likely to hatch.
"A species like a bald eagle, which eats a lot of fish, they're essentially getting a dose from everything that those fish have eaten in their lifetimes," Delach pointed out. "That biomagnification is why these pesticide issues show up worst in some of the 'top of the food chain' animals."
Delach said the federal government banned the use of DDT in 1972.
One year later, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act and ever since, bald eagles have made major rebounds and are considered a premiere example of conservation success.
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