American bald eagles are an incredible sight to see, even with their population increasing significantly over the years. Athens’ bald eagles are often spotted, flying majestically through the air or perched on a tree after being considered endangered on a federal or state level.
In 2020, there was only one confirmed nest in Athens, and since the most recent nest survey conducted in 2025, there are now four bald eagle nests in Athens.
Ohio currently has 964 nests as of July, a staggering difference from the previous survey in 2020, which found a total of 707 nests in Ohio.
At one time, the U.S. bird was at risk for extinction, with there only being a total of 417 known nesting pairs in the country in 1963, according to the American Eagle Foundation.
American bald eagles were dying off due to human interference, reaching low numbers in population due to DDT, a pesticide commonly used to control insects before its ban in 1972. DDT builds up in the fatty tissue of birds and fish, which is a large part of the Bald Eagle's diet. DDT made Bald Eagle eggs extremely thin, making them break.
Along with the ban on the use of DDT in the U.S., and the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which outlaws the disbursement of eagle nests or eagles as well as owning any part of them, has helped bring the population back up.
Lindsay Rist, an Athens wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said that particular rule has ties to the early 20th century, when it was popular to have feathers, or entire birds, on hats.
Rist said the population growth in Athens is a slow increase, as they are still recovering from when they were considered endangered. Rist explained the bird does not have a high reproductive rate, and they require an area with water.
“It takes longer, sometimes, for those populations to increase at the same rate that we could see something that has a high population rate,” Rist said. “They're only nesting one time a year, and they're not producing a ton of eggs per nest, as opposed to something like a mouse or a rabbit that can have several litters a year and is producing a lot of milk per litter.”
Now, as the number of bald eagles in Athens increases, some are making smaller watersheds their home, which is surprising to Rist, as this wasn’t the ideal habitat before. She explained this is because the birds are territorial and will fight for their nest locations.
“They're either recognizing that there's already a nest established in that area, so they're not gonna go try to fight off the bear,” Rist said. “They're more spaced out in Athens county because they're using those resources and not interfering with other pairs that are already here.”
Rist said ONDR has not seen problems with folks interfering with any nests or eagles, as the criminal act is enough to keep people from disturbing these birds, but there have been many sightings from Athens residents.
Carl Brune, an Athens local, shared his experience of seeing a bald eagle while in the Zaleski State Forest near Lake Hope. Brune said he spotted an adult and an immature bald eagle more than once while in the park.
“They're an iconic symbol of the United States, and growing up as a kid, I never saw one,“ Brune said. "I mean, I grew up in California, and then I lived in Athens for 25 years, and I had never seen one around here until this spring."
Brune said bald eagles were more than a patriotic symbol for him, as his father loved the bird of prey and collected Bald Eagle sculptures.
Amanda Vanderford, curator of animals at the private non-profit Ohio Bird Sanctuary in Mansfield, said the organization’s two female Bald Eagles, Saint Alice and Tahoe, live with them at their sanctuary permanently due to them having disabilities. They were brought in because they had suspected West Nile virus, which commonly affects birds of prey.
“Luckily, both of those eagles got to us relatively early on with being sick,” Vanderford said. “We were able to administer treatment to them for that West Nile virus, which is really just supportive care and anti-inflammatories.”
The two eagles are now living separately in the sanctuary and are on display for visitors to learn about the national bird. The sanctuary currently has an eagle in its flight enclosure and are preparing for its release in the spring.
Vanderford said the eagle was hit by a car, surviving with a spinal cord injury and was in rehabilitation for months at Lake Metro Parks in Lake County. It was transferred to the Ohio Bird Sanctuary to use its flight enclosure, which is one of the largest in Ohio.
As for the other bald eagles they’ve treated recently, Vanderford said 2025 was a record-breaking year for the sanctuary, as its staff treated 17 bald eagles. Many of the eagles they saw were suffering from vehicle strikes or lead poisoning.
“Bald Eagles are one of the most common birds of prey to get lead toxicity, because they do scavenge a lot, and one of the main ways that they get the lead toxicity (is from) scavenging on dead animals that had actually been shot with lead ammunition,” Vanderford said.
Many of Ohio’s scavenging species are susceptible to ingesting lead, and Vanderford said using non-lead type ammunition is a “very powerful way” to protect Bald Eagles and other Ohio wildlife.
To report a Bald Eagle nest in your area, visit ODNR’s website.
