Bald Eagle Sighting Signals that San Antonio River Improvements Project is Working

Texas A&M AgriLife writes that back in 1792, the Bald Eagle become America’s national bird, though it wasn’t until 1952 that the species became fully protected. By this time, widespread use of an insecticide was found to have thinned out the birds’ eggshells, and the population dwindled into the 60s and 70s until considerable efforts were made to lower the use of those insecticides and start “widespread re-introduction campaigns” to help the Bald Eagle population.

Now, the birds can often be seen in the wild, but efforts still need to be made to keep sightings in Texas. According to KENS 5, people who live “people who live near the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on the south side” are proud to say they’ve spotted a young adult Bald Eagle many times over the past couple of weeks.

“It’s the most amazing sight! You can’t…it’s so big!” nearby resident Rudi Harst said. Kirk Moravits with the San Antonio River Authority says that he sees the visiting Bald Eagle as a sign that the work being done to Mission Reach via the San Antonio River Improvements Project is paying off with abundant signs of flourishing nature. “The San Antonio River Authority is conducting a three-year avian study to document the different species on the sight, as well as look at change over time. We’re currently in our third year of the survey and we’ve observed over 50,000 individual birds as well as over 175 different species,” Moravits told the news.