Interesting comeback of a scavenger that feeds on fish and road kill; and migrates from Northern feeding grounds to southern ones.

Lots of factors to consider; but after watching a pair of young eagles feed on carp(KOI family) in the Cathance River one day while canoeing---scary thing to consider, btw.; I would lean heavily on the theory that it is an increase in food supply which has fostered their comeback.

Here is one set of comments from a group of observers--note comments about fish gathering near power plant outfalls, notorious fish and lobster breeding grounds:

Accompanying today's report, Nebraska students describe how a local power plant serves as a "MacDonald's restaurant" for eagles that winter in their region. We hope you'll enjoy their story. Last week a mystery from Michigan was described by Mrs. Sabotta's students. They asked, "Why don't the eagles in Iron Mountain, Michigan migrate?"

Among those who puzzled over this mystery were Mrs. Allen's 4th Grade students at South Park Elementary in Pueblo, Colorado. Here's what they concluded: "The eagles are near Lake Superior. The lake is too large to freeze so the eagles have fish to eat all winter." (garyt@ns-1.csn.net)

But the students in Iron Mountain INSIST all the water there is frozen in the winter! So, how can the eagles survive if they can't get fish?

Jason Edstrom explains, "Road kill is the reason Eagles can stay in Upper Michigan year round. In the winter more deer and other animals get hit by cars than in the summer. In the summer they eat fish and in the winter road kill."

Lucas Baumgartner adds, "You see, the open water isn't the only thing that freezes. The roads also build up ice making it very difficult to stop so many animals are added to the road kill menu every winter. So even though the main source of food of the Eagle is fish, during the winter Eagles do not migrate because there is plenty of road kill to feed them."

** By the way, we challenged eagle expert Peter Nye to answer the same question. Here are his thoughts:

"Concerning the Michigan eagle migration question, I would guess that there is an available food supply in Iron River, allowing eagles to stay there. This could be in the form of fish coming out of a power-plant along a small stretch of the river, or from ice- fishermen leaving their catch on the ice, or from carcasses being left out by meat processing plants, or even from an upland source, not fish. For example bald eagles that over-winter in Utah feed primarily on jackrabbits! Whatever the reason in Iron River, they are there because they are getting food !! Let me know what they are eating, I'm curious.

"Remember that not all bald eagles are migratory in the true sense of the word. A better way to describe them would be as birds moving from one place to another as their food supply dictates. Some populations migrate, some do not. Some breeding birds stay on or near their nesting site year-round. The decision to migrate or not is based upon food. When the food supply dwindles or when access to a food supply becomes difficult, eagles will move to places where they can get some. This food supply does not always have to be fish, although that is preferred.