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Wildlife & Habitats : Eagle Nest Locator
Eagle Nest Locator
Introduction: Florida supports
the largest number of breeding bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
of any southeastern state. Approximately 70% of the occupied nesting
territories in the Southeast are in Florida. As development of Florida's
coastal and freshwater riparian environments increases, the direct and indirect
effects of pollution, habitat disturbance, and habitat loss on nesting bald
eagles will accelerate. Bald eagles will be among the first species to respond
to these impacts.
Known eagle nesting territories within the state
were surveyed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
during the 2007 nesting season with fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft
beginning in late November 2006 and extending through mid-April 2007. Nest
locations were determined with the use of aircraft-based Global Positioning
System (GPS) units. Accuracy of locations is estimated to be within 0.1 miles
of the true location. Locations are given in longitude and latitude to
hundredths of a minute and stored and displayed in NAD83 datum.
The Township, Range, and Section of each nest location
are also provided. Township, Range, and Section were determined from the Public
Land Survey System grid that includes Land Grant parcels. Yearly nest activity
status is listed for the 2003 through 2007 nesting seasons. "Y"
denotes an active nest, "N" denotes an inactive nest, and
"-" denotes an unobserved nest or a nest whose activity status is
unknown. The "last" column, indicates which year the nest was last active.
Nest data can be searched for
by FWC Nest ID, by Florida county, by Township, Range, and Section, or by proximity to a user-specified point of interest. Instructions for using the
search engines are listed above each corresponding search.
Please Note: This database contains
records for all known and verified bald eagle nests in the state of
Florida that were surveyed by the FWC during the period 2003-2007. Nests
discovered more recently than this are not yet included in the database.
Each year, a number of new nest sites are found. For this reason, users
of this database are cautioned that the absence of an eagle nest record
for a given property does not necessarily mean nesting eagles are not
present. This nest locator service is not meant to replace a specific
on-the-ground survey. Approximately 75% of the bald eagle nests in Florida
are located on private land. Providing these locations does not confer
any permission by FWC to access private property.
Instructions for requesting
eagle nest data by FWC Nest ID, Florida county, or by Township, Range,
and Section:
Please select appropriate fields and search criteria from the drop-down
lists provided, enter desired values for the selected fields, and click on the
"Submit" button to perform the search. Found nests will be uniquely
identified by a two-letter county abbreviation and sequential nest number (e.g.
nest #1 in Alachua county will be identified as AL001).
Florida counties in which eagle nests are
located have names consisting of either one or two words. Counties with
two-word names include De Soto, Indian River, Palm Beach, St. Johns, St. Lucie,
and Santa Rosa. To search for nests located in a particular county (e.g. De
Soto), make the following selections:
Criteria #1: County Is Equal To De Soto
Nest locations are also specified by Township,
Range, and Section. Possible values for Township will always consist of a
2-digit number and either the letter "N" or the letter "S"
(e.g. 02N or 27S). Possible values for Range will always consist of a 2-digit
number and either the letter "E" or the letter "W" (e.g.
05E or 18W). Possible values for Section will always consist of a number with
at least 2 digits (e.g. 03, 36, or 107). To search for nests located in a
specific Township, Range, and Section (e.g. 26S 29E 02), make the following
selections:
| Criteria #1: |
Township |
Is Equal To |
26S |
| AND |
| Criteria #2: |
Range |
Is Equal To |
29E |
| AND |
| Criteria #3: |
Section |
Is Equal To |
02 |
Instructions for requesting
eagle nest data by specifying proximity to a point of interest:
Please specify the location of a point of
interest and a distance from this point. After clicking on the "Submit" button,
the search will find all nests located within the specified number of miles
from the point. Additional data returned by this search include the distance in
miles from the point of interest to the found nest and the bearing and
direction of the nest relative to the point. The longitude and latitude of the
point of interest must be specified in degrees and minutes; the distance is
specified in miles. For example, to search for all eagle nests located within
30 miles of the town of Perry FL, enter a latitude of 30 degrees, 7.90 minutes
and a longitude of 83 degrees, 34.68 minutes, and a distance of 30 miles.
Latitude/longitude coordinates for a point of interest can be determined using
a variety of sources, including the Florida Atlas & Gazetteer, paper or
electronic United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps such as
those available at www.TopoZone.com, or a GPS unit.
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