ALBANY, NY - With an annual mid-winter survey near completion, preliminary results indicate that the bald eagle population in New York State may be at an all-time high since the state began its repopulation efforts more than 30 years ago, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today.

New York has conducted annual surveys since 1979 and the highest official winter count occurred in 2008 with 573 bald eagles spotted. DEC's preliminary results for 2010 indicate that sightings may exceed this number as regions of the state continue to provide favorable wintering habitat for both New York resident eagles and for Canadian visitors. As of Jan. 31, 459 eagles had been sighted, a pace well ahead of the 2008 record. New York's survey efforts are part of a national initiative that monitors the locations and numbers of bald eagles wintering in the lower 48 states.

The number of wintering and breeding eagles in New York reached its nadir in 1975 when the state could document only one, unproductive pair of eagles due to the ravages of habitat loss, indiscriminant killing and DDT contamination. That year, DEC launched its effort to restore bald eagles to New York. The aggressive program led by DEC biologist Peter Nye included years of collecting bald eagles from Alaska and transporting and releasing the young birds to carefully selected habitats around the state. Nye and other DEC staff continue to monitor New York's growing population and their work has since been emulated by many other states. The state's Endangered Species Act has also played an essential role in the recovery of bald eagles, as well as other vulnerable species by enabling DEC to protect critical breeding, foraging and migratory habitat.

"The resurgence of the bald eagle has been one of New York's most amazing environmental success stories," Commissioner Grannis said. "This has been due to the tremendous commitment of many DEC staff over the past three decades and the ongoing cooperation of individuals and communities that recognize the importance of protecting essential habitat bald eagles need to thrive."

Bald eagles generally require and seek out open water where they find their preferred food - fish or waterfowl. Several areas of New York with essential open-water wintering habitats host hundreds of eagles each winter, many coming from northern Canadian Provinces. By early January, the birds have arrived at their annual wintering grounds, providing a good opportunity to track how the overall population is faring.

At the start of the survey in early January, DEC works with the New York State Police Aviation Unit to conduct aerial observations of the state's largest known wintering habitats. This information is supplemented with reports from dozens of volunteers throughout the state who are on-the-ground and report their observations to DEC.

During last month's aerial survey, 101 eagles were identified along the St. Lawrence River (a record), 30 along Lake Champlain, 277 in Southeast New York (the Hudson River and Delaware River basins), and 51 in western New York (Allegheny River and Lake Erie basins). This winter's count is expected to be higher than previous years because of prolonged periods of cold weather and extensive ice conditions – factors which can draw more eagles in from Canada and concentrate them within a few suitable wintering habitats in New York. Additional eagle reports will be added to these totals as the volunteers' ground-counts are reviewed.

For the past several years, as many as 15,000 bald eagles annually were counted across the nation, with the Northeast region seeing the greatest increase in overall numbers of wintering eagles since 1986. The 2010 survey was especially important as it marked the next scheduled update for a comprehensive 25-year national and regional trend analysis.

The good news in winter eagle numbers comes on the heels of another record-breaking breeding season for bald eagles in New York. In 2009, 173 breeding pairs were confirmed to have successfully raised (fledged) 223 young.

More information about bald eagles in New York State can be found at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7068.html .