Meshing technology and eagles

The Gazette Editorial Board

-----

It's hard to imagine that Bob Anderson would do anything to hurt an eagle, or any other bird, for that matter. He was instrumental in restoring peregrine falcons in the Midwest after DDT nearly wiped them out. His Decorah Fish Hatchery nest-cam project allowed the world to watch the hatching and upbringing of three eaglets earlier this year.

Yet the founder of the Decorah-based, non-profit Raptor Resource Project has been stung by some feedback about his latest project: Attaching a solar-powered satellite transmitter to one of the three young eagles who left their parents' nest for good in mid June. Critics said the transmitter, fitted on July 12, could hurt or impair the eagle.

Anderson knows better, of course. The device, about the size of a matchbook, weighs but 2 ounces. The eagle is at least 12 pounds. And assisting Anderson is Brett Mandernack, a researcher who has studied raptors for 30 years and manages an eagle preserve in Wisconsin. Mandernack has fitted 19 other eagles with transmitters, and notes that federal approval is required.

“The bird's welfare is our top priority. We don't want to damage a feather,” he told a Gazette reporter.

Researchers aim to learn more about where young eagles go and what they do after leaving their nest. Such studies of northern eagle hatchlings are “unchartered territory,” Mandernack said (you can follow “D-1” at www.raptorresource.org/maps/latest.php).

The eagle webcam was visited more than 206 million times this year. The incredible following spurred renewed interest in wildlife as well as queries about the fate of the eaglets.

The transmitter project also is an appropriate use of technology. It can help connect the dots for today's researchers. And it can attract young students who will turn their curiosity into science degrees and tomorrow's discoveries about eagles or other creatures with which we share our planet.

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net