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Eagles Take Flight in Your Metroparks
7.15.2026
By Erin Parker, Interpretive Services Supervisor
Longtime residents of Michigan can probably remember a time when it was extremely rare to see a bald eagle outside of a few pairs in the Upper Peninsula. Bald eagle populations in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes declined steeply in the 40s and 50s with regular use of the pesticide DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane). While raptors such as eagles, osprey, and peregrine falcons were not the intended target of DDT, this widely-used pesticide accumulated in the prey species (fish, insects, birds, and small mammals) consumed by raptors and interfered with the calcium metabolic processes and led to weak eggshells. These fragile eggs were crushed by their parent birds and hatch rates declined. By 1961, there were only 52 breeding pairs of bald eagles left in Michigan. Like many raptors, or birds that hunt for other animals as food, bald eagles take a few years to reach sexual maturity and to have the ability to mate and successfully rear young. With limited young birds fledging each year, the population was in trouble.
Recovery – with Michigan leading the way
Michigan became the first state to ban DDT in 1969, and has remained a hotspot for eagle populations ever since. Luckily, our bald eagle story is much different today than the dire news of the early 60s. By 2019, breeding eagle pairs numbered over 900 and they were removed from the Michigan State Threatened Species list, and even eagle monitoring was reduced to every six years. Eagles moved into urban nest sites including Belle Isle and along busy highways throughout the state.
Bald eagles and active nests can be found in most, if not all, the 13 Metroparks where nests are often visible during the spring and winter congregations of birds happen along any waterways that aren’t completely frozen over, providing plenty of opportunities for viewing, photographing, and enjoying eagle populations!
Safe and respectful eagle viewing
Bald eagles and active nests can be found in most, if not all, the 13 Metroparks where nests are often visible during the spring and winter congregations of birds happen along any waterways that aren’t completely frozen over, providing plenty of opportunities for viewing, photographing, and enjoying eagle populations!
A pair of eagles built a nest visible from the park entrance road and multiuse path at Lake St Clair Metropark in the fall of 2024 and successfully fledged eaglets in 2025 and again in 2026. This nest is particularly well-suited for careful viewing from the path, where the eagles can be observed without interrupting them.
Eagles are a federally protected species through the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (1940, but updated regularly) and their nests are protected with barricades and trail closures to keep the adults on the nest and the eaglets safe in their awkward fledgling stage, where they may find themselves on the ground before their wings are strong enough for them to fly. People getting too close to nests can cause disturbances that threaten nest success, and keeping safe and respectful distances from any wildlife can mean the difference between life and death for young animals.
Threats to eagles today
While eagle populations soared in the region through the early 2020s, they still face a variety of threats. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (also known as HPAI or bird flu), hit eagles in Michigan hard starting in the winter of 2022. This disease, spread easily among many groups of birds, causes the population of breeding eagles in Michigan to drop by 40%. Bird flu comes in waves that have continued to harm eagles in the years since 2022.
Additionally, the continued use of lead in both fishing and hunting gear harms eagles when they eat fish or mammals such as deer. The lead shot or fishing tackle is consumed along with their meal, leading to lead toxicity and death. Unfortunately, a fragment of lead the size of a grain of rice is lethal to birds the size of eagles. Because eagles routinely consume prey with lead fragments, it is estimated that almost half of the population in Michigan has some level of lead toxicity. Lead accumulates in the bones, unlike many other persistent environmental contaminants that are stored in the fat. This means that lead can remain in the eagle for years and each subsequent exposure through their diet is additive. Lead toxicity leads to respiratory and neurological problems, dehydration, weak bones and muscles, starvation, and death.
Replacing lead with other, safer alternatives and burying gut piles where lead shot were used are both helpful ways to reduce lead exposure in eagles.
Keeping Michigan’s newly restored eagle population healthy and soaring means being respectful of their space and considerate of their prey consumption. Keep an eye out the next time you visit one of your Metroparks and let us know where you’re enjoying eagle-watching!
Resources:
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/07/20/michigan-bald-eagles-soar-back-from-near-extinction/
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2026/06/09/michigan-bald-eagle-success-story-faces-new-threats/
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