Eagles making comeback, audience learns at Eagle Days presentation

Bald eagles have made a comeback in the last few decades. Dwindling to around 1,000 decades ago, bald eagles now number around 70,000 in the United States, and have been taken off the endangered species list, although they are still protected by federal laws, said Marty Birrell, nature education supervisor for Prairie Park Nature Center, Lawrence. She made her remarks at an Eagle Days presentation Saturday, Jan. 28, at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kan. The bald eagle in the photo had an injury to her wing caused by an electrical power line. The event was sponsored by the Friends of Kaw Point, with presentations by the Prairie Park Nature Center and Army Corps of Engineers. (Photo copyright 2017 by Mary Rupert)

Several people listened to a presentation by educators from the Prairie Park Nature Center, Lawrence, at the annual Eagle Days event Saturday, Jan. 28, at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo copyright 2017 by Mary Rupert)

Marty Birrell, nature education supervisor for Prairie Park Nature Center, Lawrence, showed a golden eagle at an Eagle Days educational program Saturday at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kan. Birrell said the greatest danger to eagles was from lead in the environment. Thousands of eagles die each year from lead poisoning, she said. Eagles are exposed to lead from fish they eat that have ingested lead weights and sinkers. They also are exposed to lead from ammunition that has been used to shoot deer and other wildlife, she said. (Photo copyright 2017 by Mary Rupert)