Happy Nice Mall

Visitors to Central Park’s reservoir in New York are watching a fluffy drama. The star player, the seagulls that excite and terrify park-goers, is Rover, a bald eagle.

The birds of the city follow the Rover for two yearsand some point to the ongoing story of endangered bird species showing the conservation benefits of wearing aluminum bands on their legs when young. Rover’s arrival in the five counties also adds to the growing evidence of the return of raptors to urban areas. If Rover can build a nest in and around Central Park, perhaps even more eagles will fill the city’s skies in the years to come.

Rover’s story begins in Conn, New Haven. In 2016, the town’s birdwatchers were surprised to see a pair of bald eagles nesting near a bald eagle. busy intersection. The man wore a tape that read “P2” around his leg, while the woman wore no tape. The city government’s outdoor adventure coordinator, Martin Torresquintero, said the Birders christened the couple Walter and Rachel – W and R – after the West River that flows through the city.

Walter and Rachel failed to raise any teenagers that year and later moved to a nearby cemetery. They were successful the following year and again in 2018 when they laid three eggs.

Biologists from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection watched the nest until the eggs hatched. On May 11, 2018, Brian Hess, a state wildlife biologist, drove the New Haven city cherry picker to the nest and removed the chicks. He weighed and measured them, placed a metal ring around their legs, and handed them back. One ring contained a long number assigned by the United States Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory, while the other ring contained two large characters that could be seen with detection telescopes or zoom lenses. The sister’s group read P7, while one boy read R7 and the other read S7.

Two years later, a young bald eagle began keeping watch in the tall pine trees of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. “I couldn’t believe a bald eagle was hanging out at Green-Wood Cemetery in the middle of Brooklyn,” said Angela Panetta, a birdwatcher from the town, who said the eagle was interested in birding.

Birdwatchers at Green-Wood saw a ring around his left leg with an R over 7 – this earned him the nickname Rover, and they’ve been following him ever since.

Then, just weeks ago, a dramatically banded bald eagle appeared in Central Park, perched over the reservoir and snatched a gull from the air in front of the audience.

Mr. Hess had seen a video Image of the bald eagle in Central Park. “Wow, I thought that was the coolest thing,” he said. Shortly after, I was contacted by a report that a bald eagle with the black band R7 was wandering around New York City. He instantly recognized the combination – it was one of the siblings he grouped together in 2018.

The Rover represents part of the ongoing trend of raptors moving into urban areas. Raptor populations declined in the first half of the 20th century due to widespread hunting and use of DDT pesticides. These chemicals circulate in the food web and accumulate in predators like bald eagles, making their egg shells too thin to support the parents’ weight, said Jen Cruz, a population ecologist at Boise State University.

Bans on DDT and laws prohibiting harming or disturbing bald eagles have led to the breed’s recovery. US bald eagle population quadrupled Since 2009 and these large, white-headed raptors are now regularly seen even in New York; For example, bald eagles breed on Staten Island. Birds are adaptable and can feed on fish, those that die on the way, other birds, and more, even in Central Park.

“I’ve been birding in Central Park for at least five years,” said Ursula Mitra of Manhattan. “Obviously I haven’t seen an eagle hunting in the reservoir except for the last four or five weeks.”

Birds of prey still face threats in New York. Just last year, Barry, Central Park’s famous striped owl, has died after colliding with the maintenance vehicle. It turned out that he did an autopsy. ate poisoned prey.

Rover’s family also endured the drama. No re-sightings of the P7 were reported, and the S7 was killed by a truck in West Virginia in September 2018. Rover’s mother Rachel was hit by a truck on I-95 in 2020 and survived. But Walter found a new wife who fought with Rachel when she tried to get back to Rachel during her rehabilitation, Mr. Torresquintero said.

Mr. Hess is optimistic about Rover’s future. Bald eagles start breeding at about 5 years old and Rover is 4 years old. Maybe she’ll find a mate and choose to breed in New York.

“Obviously this bird has figured out how to catch seagulls and possibly ducks as well,” said Mr Hess. “They are indeed intelligent and adaptable birds that have found how to survive in many different places.”