Question for the eagle experts

[malaise]

How do they deal with 10 inches of snow?
Just heard that there was 10 inches in places like Iowa.

[empedocles]

1. 6" forecast for DC, that's trickier than 10" in Iowa

[Dennis Donovan]

2. We're an eagle-breeding ground in CNY/Montezuma NWR.

They seem ok with snow. Maybe harder to see white mice?

[MontanaMama]

3. We've got a couple feet of standing snow

and eagles seem to be doing okay. I see one or more a day this time of year. Bald eagles nab fish out of the rivers and lakes and golden eagles can pinch rabbits and other small mammals. Bald eagles in particular will find carrion when it’s available. I saw a couple of eagles feasting on a dead deer (probably hit by a car) last week...they looked fat and happy.

[hlthe2b]

4. while I don't count myself as an eagle "expert", most birds in CO that stay through the winter

including other raptors, like hawks and falcons, and owls seem to use deep evergreen tree coverage to burrow and nest. As for food, there are always rodents and rabbits are plentiful, sad as it is to see them become dinner.

With climate change, we have more birds hanging around in the winter--even robins-- and that does worry me. Sadly, we had really heavy snow late in the year a couple of seasons prior--after the geese had already laid eggs-- and thus the females were sitting the nests. That was a particularly tragic year as I did witness at least one dead on her nest--frozen. It is nature, but it still gets to you.

[2naSalit]

7. In Idaho, robins stopped going south back in the early 90s.

[malaise]

9. Over the years we have seen fewer birds coming from

your part of the planet. Someone must have built a 'wall'.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Eagles eat a lot of fish, so they often congregate

wherever there's open water; snow isn't really an issue. In Iowa they'll hang around the Mississippi. Here in Minneapolis I often see them flying over the river, looking for fish, even dead ones. There's an area along the river south of here called Reed's Landing where dozens of them gather; people drive down there just to watch the eagles.

[2naSalit]

6. It's all in how they construct the nest...

for nesting birds, that is. In many cases, they huddle in evergreen trees when not nesting. In a nest, the first phase of construction includes a big "bowl" in the center of the nest. The bowl and some of the outer portions are lined with feathers, fur and vegetation that is quite a barrier to the weather. The bowl helps to keep the eggs in the warmth of a confined area while the parent's body temps and plumage maintain the heat. When snow arrives, the parent on the nest partially capes its wings to make a hood. They stay rather motionless while the snow piles up. Eventually they get up and push the snow away from the bowl and do so throughout any break in the snow. They are constantly rearranging and adding to the nest as well. Once the chicks start growing, the parents eventually fill in the bowl with stuff and create a platform for the fledglings to hop around on as they prepare to take flight. It all takes about ten weeks from hatch to flying out of the nest at near full size!

That's about as condensed as I can get it.

[Beringia]

8. Speaking of eagles, here is an eagle webcam in Channel Islands, California

https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/photosmultimedia/bald-eagle-webcam.htm

[malaise]

10. Thanks

and thank you everyone who responded.