Bald eagle nest found in Toronto for 1st time in recorded history, conservation authority says
Residents warned not seek out or disturb nest as eagles may abandon their eggs
When Jules McCusker came across a bald eagle nest near his Toronto home in December, he could hardly believe his eyes.
"The first thing I thought was that it was impossible," said McCusker.
The reason for his astonishment, he says, is that he hadn't heard of there being a bald eagle nest in Toronto in the last century.
While spotting one of the iconic birds of prey in the city is itself quite rare, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) confirmed in an email to CBC Toronto that this is the first ever documented bald eagle nest in Toronto.
WARNING: The agency is warning residents not to look for or disturb the nest as it may cause the eagles to abandon it and eggs.
"It's incredible," said McCusker. "I mean, it's just absolutely mind-blowing."
Experts say it's a significant moment, as bald eagles were only removed from the list of at risk species in Ontario last year.
The number of bald eagles in North America hit a low point in the 1960s, when only a few hundred nesting pairs remained, says Michael Drescher, an environmental planning and conservation expert at the University of Waterloo.
"They were at the brink of extinction at that time," added Drescher.
Banning chemicals helped revive eagle population
Drescher says the resurgence of bald eagle nesting pairs across the continent, now estimated in the tens of thousands, is largely due to the prohibition of certain contaminants, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a once pervasively-used insecticide that was banned in the 1970s.
Exposure to DDT caused bald eagles to lay brittle eggs that can crack under the weight of the incubating bird, adds Jon Spero, lead keeper of birds and terrestrial invertebrates at the Toronto Zoo.
Spero says the number of bald eagles in southern Ontario is still lower than in other periods of history, but their resurgence is a positive sign of the quality of water and fish they rely on.
"It's a sign that an ecosystem is healthy when we see bald eagles returning to it," said Spero.
Drescher adds that there is also a larger food supply for bald eagles, as small mammals and fish that eagles prey on have similarly benefited from a reduction of pollutants.
The discovery comes a little over a decade after another pair of bald eagles settled in the Royal Botanical Gardens' Cootes Paradise near Hamilton. Two years later, the first eaglets hatched on the Canadian shoreline of Lake Ontario in more than 50 years.
"Their spiritual significance is enormous," McCusker told CBC Toronto, adding that he and other Indigenous community members were invited to bear witness to the arrival of the eaglets.
Eagle culturally significant to Indigenous communities
McCusker's good friend, Duke Redbird, an elder from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, says the return of the birds to Ontario's shorelines is a good omen, as bald eagles are very sacred to Indigenous communities, and represent honour, honesty, charity and life.
"Our community has always loved the bald eagle for its strength and its capacity to represent truth and goodwill," said Redbird, a well-known Indigenous poet and literary figure.
He says the eagle feather is the greatest possible honour that someone can have bestowed upon them.
"Let's hope that the little eaglets that are hatched this year as a result will just spread their joy around Toronto," said Redbird.
Making that happen will require the cooperation of local residents.
"Bald eagles are sensitive creatures, particularly during their nesting period," said Afiya Jilani, TRCA's communications specialist.
She says birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts should avoid the area, which CBC Toronto has decided not to disclose, as noise and other kinds of disturbances in the area could negatively affect the eagles.
"It's crucial to maintain their habitat as it is during a sensitive time and to prioritize their welfare, especially in the early stages of the nesting process."
Bald eagles seen nesting in Toronto for first
time in city’s recorded history
Presence of birds proof of improving health of city’s green spaces, as they are highly sensitive to environmental disturbances
Leyland Cecco
in Toronto
Few things delight residents of Toronto more than unexpected animals in unexpected places.
When a family of foxes took up residence beneath a boardwalk during the coronavirus pandemic, thousands flocked to the beach for a glimpse of the kits. When a beaver waddled throughout the city’s downtown core with a large branch in its mouth, children excitedly cheered on the determined rodent. And even when a raccoon plunged parts of Toronto into darkness, the urban critters were celebrated for their wily, indefatigable character.
Now, there are new residents: a pair of bald eagles are nesting for the first time in the city’s recorded history. Their presence underscores the dramatic return of a bird nearly pushed to extinction and of the improving health of Toronto’s sprawling green spaces and waterways.
Bald eagles, a bird perhaps more associated with the imagery of North America than any other fauna, are a rare ecological success story.
Once common throughout the continent – including in the area that became the city of Toronto – the bird was soon seen as a pest for settlers and farmers. Local authorities encouraged the widespread slaughter of the raptors, promising bounties in exchange for carcasses.
And although policies were later changed and protections were introduced, eagle populations continued to dwindle, especially in urban areas.
A deteriorating habitat was compounded by the presence of DDT, a widely used insecticide. The chemical, popular in the 1940s, worked its way through the food chain and weakened the shells of eagle eggs. By the early 1960s, there were only a few hundred breeding pair left on the continent, said Michael Drescher, an environmental planning and conservation expert at the University of Waterloo. “It was a very sad and very low point for the population.
A ban on both DDT and the hunting of eagles led to the eventual rebound of eagle populations across the continent – widely seen as one of the first major victories of the modern environmental movement.
But Drescher said that eagles are highly adaptable predators and unlike in the case of other threatened species, their two main stressors were easily identified and stopped.
“Other species on the brink of extinction, largely because of habitat loss, are much harder to help,” he said.
In May, the bald eagle was removed from the list of endangered species in Ontario – a move heralded as a success. But Drescher cautioned recent changes to the Endangered Species Act could erode protections for the birds if their prospects changed.
The unlikely success of the bald eagle recovery in many ways mirrors the billion-dollar effort to restore the green spaces and wetlands threading Toronto.
“For decades, we’ve invested heavily in ecological restoration work. And finally, it’s paying off,” said Karen McDonald, who works at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s restoration and infrastructure division. “These eagles are a testament to that: if we didn’t have healthy waters and a healthy food web, I don’t think they’d be here.”
The eagles aren’t the only animals that tell conservation experts that the lands and waters are rejuvenating. Two years ago, an angler caught a 42-inch, 20-lb muskie in the city’s harbour – the first time the predatory fish had been found the area in more than three decades. Northern river otters were once driven from the area. Now, a pair has been spotted traveling from park to park, their five offspring in tow.
“To see these animals returning, it just warms my heart,” said McDonald.
But the arrival of eagles to the city reflects a deepening level of ecological recovery – one that suggests the thrumming heart of Canada’s largest metropolis isn’t just a suitable home for hardened, urban wildlife like squirrels, coyotes and raccoons. Instead, if all goes well, it can host a pair of birds that, despite their fierce looks, are highly sensitive to disturbance.
“I’ll admit that I’m worried. Eagles are really charismatic species and people have this intense desire to connect with nature. That curiosity can sometimes dissolve the willpower to stay away,” said McDonald.
The eagles were first spotted in recent months displaying mating behaviour high above the city, locking talons and tumbling through the air, before releasing close to the ground. In early February, a handful of residents spotted their nest – roughly the size of a queen mattress – among the leafless tree branches and reported it to the TRCA.
Initially, the city’s conservation authority kept the presence of the nest a secret from the public, but McDonald said that strategy became increasingly tenuous as more residents spotted the nest. While it remains “very difficult” to access by foot, it remains near boat and airplane traffic. “We want to give this pair the best chance at making it. We don’t want them to be loved to death by people of Toronto,” said McDonald.
How Toronto’s Don River, once declared dead, is roaring back to life
For those watching the trajectory of Toronto’s seemingly endless sprawl, development and growth, the return of a bird once written off, seems incompatible with a future in which ecosystems are increasingly at risk. But however long they last in the city, the pair also suggest a tangible result to the slow and costly efforts to clean up the polluted rivers, trash-strewn forests and lifeless old industrial sites.
“It’s so easy to get really down about what’s happening in the world these days, with climate change and the non-existent winter we just had. But as someone who works in ecological restoration, I’m a naturally optimistic person. And this eagle pair is just giving me even more optimism,” said McDonald. “If people show them the respect that they deserve, I feel like they’ve got a real fighting chance here.”
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