Once near extinction in the area, the country’s national bird is making a comeback in population in an area just outside of Bucks County. Jon Hurdle wrote about the famous bird for the NJ Spotlight News.

Once on the brink of extinction, the bald eagle is again becoming a familiar sight to anglers and recreational users throughout the Delaware River Watershed.

In neighboring New Jersey, the bird was reduced to a single breeding pair in 1970. Today, there are 267 pairs, and their numbers keep growing.

The population was decimated after the pesticide DDT came into widespread use in the 1940s. It prevented most bold eagle breeding by making their eggshells too thin for the incubating parents to sit on them. The situation improved once the national ban on DDT was instituted in 1972.

Additionally, the bird has benefited from a better quality of water in the Delaware River and its tributaries. The federal Clean Water Act of 1972 fostered the recovery of the fish and waterfowl bald eagles feed on.

“People love eagles, they care about them, and you really need to have that to have a successful population rebound,” said Kathy Clark, of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Read more about the bald eagle in the NJ Spotlight News.

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