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Speaker 1: On this episode of New World. In the smoky Mountains

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Speaker 1: of Tennessee, home to Dolly Parton's famous Family amusement park Dollywood,

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Speaker 1: exists another amazing organization, the American Eagle Foundation, located in Kodak.

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Speaker 1: Founded in the nineteen eighties by several passionate conservationists, the

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Speaker 1: American Eagle Foundation is now a nonprofit organization inspiring the

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Speaker 1: global community to guard and protect the bald eagle and

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Speaker 1: all birds of prey. Their mission is to conserve, educate,

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Speaker 1: and protect. Here to discuss the American Eagle Foundation, I'm

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Speaker 1: really pleased to welcome my guest, Jessica Hall, Executive Director,

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Speaker 1: Jessica Welcome, and thank you for joining me on New World.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, it's an honor to be here. We really

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Speaker 2: appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's great to find and as I watched the

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Speaker 1: Commanders versus Eagles football game, I realized I was watching

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Speaker 1: what we're going to talk about, So this will be fun.

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Speaker 1: How did the American Eagle Foundation begin and what inspired

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Speaker 1: its creation.

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Speaker 2: The American Eagle Foundation began in the nineteen eighties after

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Speaker 2: a very passionate wildlife resource agent named Bob Hatcher started

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Speaker 2: educating Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on the plight of the

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Speaker 2: bald eagle, and people came together through Cumberland Wildlife Refuge

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Speaker 2: and other concerned citizens to start actively really reigniting the

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Speaker 2: public passion around our nation's symbol, and as a result,

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Speaker 2: the National Organization to Protect America's Eagles was born and

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Speaker 2: that eventually became American Eagle Foundation.

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Speaker 1: What was Hatcher's contribution, He clearly was a driving force.

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Speaker 2: He was an incredible driving force. He was not only

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Speaker 2: passionate about our nation's symbol, but the fact that they

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Speaker 2: are an indicator species for how our environment is operating.

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Speaker 2: And he was an avid fisherman and so understanding that

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Speaker 2: bald eagle's habitats are naturally close to rivers, lakes and streams,

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Speaker 2: he wanted to try to protect those habitats in order

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Speaker 2: to enjoy his hobby.

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Speaker 1: And wasn't the use of DDT and large scale a

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Speaker 1: significant factor in weakening eggshells and almost driving birds of

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Speaker 1: prey to extinction.

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Speaker 2: It absolutely was DDT. The consequences of using it in

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Speaker 2: households was horrific to the bald eagle population. In fact,

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Speaker 2: we ended up with less than forty nesting pairs in

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Speaker 2: the lower forty eight states to the United States of

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Speaker 2: America during its use.

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Speaker 1: And how many pairs would you guess there are.

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Speaker 2: Today at last count I would say that we have

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Speaker 2: upwards of maybe four hundred thousand bald eagles back in

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Speaker 2: the wild now. Bald eagle wildlife cams are also a

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Speaker 2: very popular option to view online, and we see that

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Speaker 2: the bald eagle is flourishing, that these cams are showing

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Speaker 2: us that they're continuing to mate successfully and those eaglets

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Speaker 2: are continuing to fledge successfully. There are still some threats

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Speaker 2: facing the bald eagle today, but it is significantly different

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Speaker 2: than it was in the height of DDT usage.

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Speaker 1: Kloster went to Luther College into Core, Iowa, and they

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Speaker 1: have a bald eagle cam for an eagle nest. Huge

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Speaker 1: number of people watch it. Absolutely it's a great example

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Speaker 1: of modern technology encouraging people to help preserve something that's

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Speaker 1: very ancient.

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Speaker 2: It is, and in fact, we saw a resurgence in

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Speaker 2: people enjoying these cameras during the COVID pandemic. When people

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Speaker 2: were at home, they would turn their screens on and

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Speaker 2: they would want to feel some sort of connection to

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Speaker 2: our wildlife into the outdoors. And so people started watching

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Speaker 2: eaglecams in record numbers into the hundreds of millions.

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Speaker 1: If they go to American Eagle Foundation's website, can they

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Speaker 1: then find the eagle caams?

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Speaker 2: They absolutely can. We have several. We have a Northeastern

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Speaker 2: Florida cam that has a very popular and flourishing ness there.

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Speaker 2: I think we have over twenty eglets that have successfully

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Speaker 2: fledged from that nest back into the wilds of Florida.

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Speaker 2: We also have a cam at Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, which

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Speaker 2: is unique in one of a kind. Eagle Mountain Sanctuary,

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Speaker 2: which is actually located at Dollywood Theme Park, is the

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Speaker 2: nation largest bald eagle sanctuary. So whenever we have an

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Speaker 2: injured bald eagle that can't survive in the wild, we

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Speaker 2: provide a home for it there at the theme park.

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Speaker 2: It's a thirty eight thousand square foot aviary as close

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Speaker 2: to the natural wilds as you can get, right in

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Speaker 2: the heart of the Smoking Mountains.

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Speaker 1: So when people go to Dollywood they can go look

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Speaker 1: at the Eagle Sanctuary.

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Speaker 2: They sure can. They can go see the eagles and

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Speaker 2: get up close to our nation's symbol, and it helps

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Speaker 2: inspire and cultivate this passion for bald eagles and patriotism.

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Speaker 1: One of the things with the American Eagle Foundations I

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Speaker 1: understand it is you really have spent a lot of

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Speaker 1: time rehabilitating injured birds of prey.

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Speaker 2: We have, and we're currently trying to raise money to

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Speaker 2: build the nation's largest wildlife bald eagle rehabilitation hospital. So

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Speaker 2: two years ago we bought forty eight eight at the

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Speaker 2: base of the Smoky Mountains in order to create a

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Speaker 2: hospital here. It is very centrally located off of the

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Speaker 2: I forty corridor, so that people can get injured bald

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Speaker 2: eagles to us quickly and we can provide the help

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Speaker 2: we need. And so we're currently running a capital campaign

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Speaker 2: to raise money to build that hospital right here.

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Speaker 1: Do you take care of birds of prey other than eagles?

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Speaker 2: We do. We have turkey vultures, we have black vultures.

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Speaker 2: Both of those animals are incredibly misunderstood, and those are

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Speaker 2: really our nation's clean up crew. They neutralize diseases such

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Speaker 2: as anthrax and botulism. And we also have hawks and

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Speaker 2: corvids and any number of birds of prey you can

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Speaker 2: find here at American Eagle Foundation.

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Speaker 1: What is it that people misunderstand about vultures.

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Speaker 2: I think people naturally associate vultures as kind of this

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Speaker 2: nasty animal because they do see them on the sides

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Speaker 2: of the roads eating carrion. But what these animals truly

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Speaker 2: do is they take anything that is carrying disease and

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Speaker 2: they neutralize it and create a kind of harmonious environmental balance.

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Speaker 2: In fact, some Native American tribes, particularly the Cherokee, they

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Speaker 2: referred to the vulture as the peace eagle, not because

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Speaker 2: this bird was a symbol of any type of warrior mentality,

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Speaker 2: but because it could neutralize death and turn it into

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Speaker 2: energy for life.

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Speaker 1: They must have very powerful stomachs.

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Speaker 2: They do have powerful stomachs. In fact, the most some

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Speaker 2: people would say discussing I think it's kind of unique

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Speaker 2: way to ward off predators is they actually vomit as

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Speaker 2: predators are coming near them, and the smell of that

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Speaker 2: vomit is so powerful that it deters any predator that

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Speaker 2: was thinking about coming after them.

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Speaker 1: What kind of animals prey up on a vulture, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, that's a great question. But hyenas, coyotes and other

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Speaker 2: animals would still try to prey upon vultures.

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Speaker 1: I have to ask him, because I was watching the

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Speaker 1: ballgame the other night. The Philadelphia Eagles I think had

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Speaker 1: Challenger there, didn't they.

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Speaker 2: We actually had Lincoln there. Lincoln is Challenger's predecessor. Challenger

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Speaker 2: flew for the Philadelphia Eagles for many, many years, but

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Speaker 2: we retired him in twenty and eighteen due to cataracts.

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Speaker 2: And so with his cataracts and the onset of cataracts,

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Speaker 2: he wasn't able to locate the skycam wires as easily

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Speaker 2: as he was in the past, and so we made

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Speaker 2: the decision to retire him and began training Lincoln to

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Speaker 2: take over. And this was Lincoln's excuse the pun rookie

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Speaker 2: season with the Philadelphia Eagles, and he did a fantastic job.

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Speaker 2: We did seven flights for them. He nailed every single one.

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Speaker 2: And I cannot say enough good things about that organization

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Speaker 2: and what they do, from the players to the administrative

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Speaker 2: faults at the Philadelphia Eagles, they have absolutely welcomed us

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Speaker 2: with open arms.

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Speaker 1: Challengers sort of became the symbol of what you're doing.

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Speaker 1: What was Challenger's background and how did that develop?

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Speaker 2: Challenger was blown out of a nest in Louisiana as

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Speaker 2: an eaglet, very young eaglet, and He was found by

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Speaker 2: a well meaning citizen who took him home and was

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Speaker 2: wanting to just kind of raise him. I don't know

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Speaker 2: if they mistook him, maybe for another animal, but they

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Speaker 2: quickly realized they had a bald eagle on their hands

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Speaker 2: and surrendered him to a local vet. The vet tried

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Speaker 2: releasing him, and he was found on a fisherman's dock

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Speaker 2: back for food and a local fisherman was feeding him,

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Speaker 2: and at that point US Fish and Wildlife were called

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Speaker 2: in and they realized that they had an imprinted bald

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Speaker 2: eagle on their hands, and he was surrendered into our care.

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Speaker 1: So you have a very close relationship with fish and wildlife.

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Speaker 2: We do. We have a very close relationship with the

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Speaker 2: United States Fish and Wildlife, the United States Department of Agriculture,

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Speaker 2: as well as their local counterpart, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

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Speaker 2: One Challenger was surrendered to US. We had a trainer

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Speaker 2: named John Stokes who had the idea that if he

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Speaker 2: could train Challenger to free fly using some falconry techniques,

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Speaker 2: that it would be a great opportunity to show people

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Speaker 2: the majesty of a bald eagle in flight and maybe

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Speaker 2: help people to realize why they wanted to save these animals,

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Speaker 2: and Challenger was actually the first eagle trained to free

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Speaker 2: fly in stadiums. Even before the Universe of Auburn ever

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Speaker 2: flew their first war eagle, Challenger was the first. In fact,

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Speaker 2: John went to the University of Auburn and helped teach

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Speaker 2: them some of the techniques that they use to fly

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Speaker 2: their war eagle to this day.

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Speaker 1: That's great. So war eagle in a sense came with Challenger.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I think Auburn always had a bald eagle at

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Speaker 2: their games present, but it was always on a glove.

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Speaker 2: Challenger kind of inspired that new tradition that they have

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Speaker 2: today at flying war eagle before the games.

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Speaker 1: I remember being at the Portland Zoo one year and

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Speaker 1: they allowed me to have an eagle on my arm.

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Speaker 1: Eagles are really big.

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Speaker 2: They are. Eagles are big animals, and I don't think

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Speaker 2: people realize how big they are until you get up

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Speaker 2: close to them. And their wingspan can reach up to

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Speaker 2: six and a half feet, which is just massive. It's

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Speaker 2: taller than most of us, certainly taller than meat, and

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Speaker 2: they're tall animals. When they're on your arm and you're

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Speaker 2: holding your arm up, I mean they could easily tower

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Speaker 2: over your head. Now, the cool thing about eagles, and

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Speaker 2: you obviously witness this firsthand, is that they don't necessarily

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Speaker 2: weigh very much. So Lincoln is around seven and a

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Speaker 2: half pounds. Their bodies are somewhat hollow, which enables them

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Speaker 2: to have greater aerodynamics.

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Speaker 1: When I watch the eagles soar over the football stadium,

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Speaker 1: how hard is it to train the eagle to then

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Speaker 1: come back?

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Speaker 2: That's such a great question. So we use a combination

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Speaker 2: of falconry techniques and modern training methods. So we're a

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Speaker 2: bird first towards facility, meaning that the bird behaviors tell

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Speaker 2: us what that bird wants to do and how they

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Speaker 2: want to act day. So if we feel like the

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Speaker 2: bird is not wanting to come out of its room

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Speaker 2: or doesn't feel like training that day, we do not

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Speaker 2: force that behavior. We allow that bird to tell us

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Speaker 2: what it wants to do, and we have those behaviors

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Speaker 2: downpath through observation, very careful observation and bonding with these animals.

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Speaker 2: So once you take a combination of these ancient falconry

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Speaker 2: techniques and you marry them with modern methods, you can

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Speaker 2: kind of create this really unique relationship dynamic between the

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Speaker 2: handler and the bird, and it's a trust dynamic between

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Speaker 2: human and wild animal because these animals are still class

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Speaker 2: two predators and they're an apex predator in their own rights.

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Speaker 2: So it takes a lot of time, energy and effort.

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Speaker 2: But once those techniques are incorporated and bonding time with

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Speaker 2: that bird happens, you can tell when a bird is

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Speaker 2: eager and one to do more, and you try to

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Speaker 2: encourage that behavior, and you try to give that animal

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Speaker 2: time and the opportunity to do the things that it

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Speaker 2: wants to do, such as fly or play or have

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Speaker 2: the kind of enrichment that it needs. The cool thing

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Speaker 2: about bald eagles, again, is that their natural state isn't

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Speaker 2: necessarily flying. Their natural state is perching. They perch and

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Speaker 2: they watch and they wait until the right moment to hunt.

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Speaker 2: They are definitely opportunistic predators and so perching is really

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Speaker 2: their natural state, and that's what you'll see a lot

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Speaker 2: in wildlife cams. You'll see them perching in the trees,

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Speaker 2: sitting in their nest, and flying to get food when

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Speaker 2: they need it.

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Speaker 1: I take it though, that each eagle has its own personality.

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Speaker 2: They do, and we try not to assign human characteristics

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Speaker 2: to their personalities, but sometimes we do. Lincoln is definitely

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Speaker 2: what we would consider being a very young, very eager bird,

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Speaker 2: wanting to prove himself, wanting to push himself. Challenger, obviously,

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Speaker 2: is an older bird. He's enjoying his retirement. He recently

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Speaker 2: underwent very successful cataract surgery at the University of Tennessee

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Speaker 2: Veterinary Clinic, and he enjoys taking his daily baths. He

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Speaker 2: still flies in his aviary, which are some of the

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Speaker 2: largest aviaries in the nation. He still flies in there,

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Speaker 2: He plays in there. He has lots of enrichment. He

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Speaker 2: still gets the opportunity to exercise when he wants to,

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Speaker 2: but he also enjoys, you know, the occasional piece of

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Speaker 2: salmon or rabbit and just hanging out in his aviary

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Speaker 2: kind of what I would equate with sitting on the

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Speaker 2: porch watching everything else happen around him.

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Speaker 1: How old do they have to be for you to

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Speaker 1: consider training them?

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Speaker 2: So we operate the sanctuary here, and so all of

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Speaker 2: our animals are deemed non releasable by US Fish and Wildlife.

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Speaker 2: So we used to have a breeding program. We were

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Speaker 2: one of the only facilities in the nation allowed to

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Speaker 2: breed eagles during the height of the crisis, and we

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Speaker 2: released over one hundred and ninety bald eagles back into

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Speaker 2: the wild. But now we no longer breed bald eagles,

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Speaker 2: so any eagle that comes to us is an eagle

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Speaker 2: that's been injured. We recently received two juvenile bald eagles.

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Speaker 2: One the nest that the eaglet was in the tree

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Speaker 2: blew over into the river in a storm. The eglet

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Speaker 2: was rescued and it was still a juvenile and in

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Speaker 2: the water, it struggled a bit and had to be

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Speaker 2: given to veterinary care. In veterinary care, it was there

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Speaker 2: for about six weeks just trying to get all the

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Speaker 2: water that it had aspirated out of its system. And

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Speaker 2: during that time, even though you're trying to be very

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Speaker 2: careful and make sure that you're not imprinting on this bird,

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Speaker 2: unfortunately that bird was imprinted on, which is what we

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Speaker 2: mean when we say that is associating humans with food.

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Speaker 2: So the hacking instinct, which is their instinct to hunt,

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Speaker 2: never kicks in. And at that point, when a bird

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Speaker 2: associates humans with food, it's deemed non releasable because if

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Speaker 2: you tried to release it into the wild, it would

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Speaker 2: fly to humans and try to get food, which is

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Speaker 2: definitely not something that is safe.

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Speaker 1: So it basically never learned to hunt wildlife and learned

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Speaker 1: to go to people for.

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Speaker 2: Food exactly, and as a result, it was deemed non

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Speaker 2: releasable and given to our care. So that egle is

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Speaker 2: physically perfect but unable to survive on its own in

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Speaker 2: the wild. And it's still a juvenile eagle, which means

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Speaker 2: that the white head and the white tail hasn't fully

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Speaker 2: grown in yet, so it still has brown feathering. The

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Speaker 2: white head and the tail don't come in till about

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Speaker 2: five years of age. So we start very slowly by

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Speaker 2: just building a relationship with that bird, and when we

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Speaker 2: go into the aviary to feed the bird, we might

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Speaker 2: sit in the corner and just sit while the bird

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Speaker 2: plays in its aviary and flies around, just so that

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Speaker 2: it gets used to us and understands that we're not

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Speaker 2: a threat to it, and eventually the bird will become

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Speaker 2: curious enough to approach the human in its aviary and

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Speaker 2: maybe start taking food off the glove, and then we'll

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Speaker 2: try feeding it on the glove and then doing behaviors

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Speaker 2: like step ups where we encourage the eagle to step

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Speaker 2: up onto the glove. And although these are also training behaviors,

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Speaker 2: it's also a way to provide the right kind of

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Speaker 2: vet care. So we have physicals bi annually on all

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Speaker 2: of our birds, and we need the bird to be

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Speaker 2: able to step up on the gloves so that we

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Speaker 2: can check its keel, make sure that it has the

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00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,880
Speaker 2: right feather coloring, make sure that it has the right wingspan,

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Speaker 2: and also to weigh the eagle. So although these are

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00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,440
Speaker 2: training techniques, it's not just to teach the animal necessarily

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Speaker 2: how to fly in a stadium, but also to provide

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00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,320
Speaker 2: the behaviors that we need in order to keep it

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Speaker 2: safe and healthy.

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Speaker 1: So you have these folks who are out here doing

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Speaker 1: an amazing job of handling eagles, which are an art

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00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,720
Speaker 1: form of its own. How long does it take to

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Speaker 1: learn to be a handler?

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00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,800
Speaker 2: Generally, handlers would go to school for something like biology

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Speaker 2: or wildlife sciences or any number of those degrees, and

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Speaker 2: then they would go into the field of zoology. And

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Speaker 2: a handler could come to us with a bachelor's degree

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Speaker 2: and then be trained in American Eagle Foundation training methods

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Speaker 2: and techniques, and it could take anywhere from twelve to

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Speaker 2: twenty four months to graduate from a screech out handling

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Speaker 2: a screech out all the way up to handling a

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Speaker 2: bald eagle. Again, you really have to build relationships with

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Speaker 2: those birds and you have to have a dedicated mindset

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Speaker 2: to spend time in an aviary with a class two

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Speaker 2: predator while it's flying around you and learn to trust

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Speaker 2: that animal and build trust in that animal for you.

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Speaker 1: Do you ever feed them live food or is that

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Speaker 1: too dangerous?

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Speaker 2: We don't feed them live food. We only source our

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Speaker 2: food from humanly source vendors, so our food does come

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00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:48,159
Speaker 2: in already dead and it's usually frozen. We provide a

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Speaker 2: very varied diet, so we try to get as close

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Speaker 2: to the wild as possible. Rabbits, quail fish, and rat mice,

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Speaker 2: those are all things that would naturally fall into a

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Speaker 2: diet of a bald eagle.

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Speaker 1: Historically, this may be a common On my limited experience

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Speaker 1: with I identify them as really good fish hunters, maybe

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Speaker 1: because you can catch them out in the open on

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Speaker 1: rivers and lakes, but it's amazing to watch them.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. We actually have a lot of mountain trout that

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Speaker 2: we feed our birds, because that would be a very

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Speaker 2: natural thing that they would have in the wild here.

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Speaker 2: So we do source from a local trout farm and

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Speaker 2: their main diet is fish, but we do try to

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Speaker 2: keep it varied for them for several reasons. It keeps

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00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,919
Speaker 2: their beaks healthy and strong, and you know, sometimes you

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00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,160
Speaker 2: feel like pizza, sometimes you feel like a hate burger.

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Speaker 1: Can you keep the eagles together or do they have

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Speaker 1: to be separate?

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Speaker 2: Well, eagles are naturally social creatures, so for instance, that

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Speaker 2: Eagle Mountain Sanctuary in Dollywood, those eagles are together and

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Speaker 2: they enjoy that kind of of interaction. They're very social animals,

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Speaker 2: and eagles do mate for life. Now, if their mate

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00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,840
Speaker 2: were killed or missing, they may mate again, but when

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Speaker 2: they have the opportunity, they mate for life.

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Speaker 1: If this is going to be a lifetime relationship, what

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00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 1: is kind of a dating process.

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Speaker 2: So they do find each other in the wild during

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Speaker 2: mating season, which runs at different times throughout the US.

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Speaker 2: But basically they would be in each other's territory and

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Speaker 2: they are attracted to the heat signatures of other bald eagles.

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Speaker 2: Once they find each other, they might perform a mating dance,

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Speaker 2: which is where they will lock talents in the air

355
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Speaker 2: and kind of do a spiral, they will start to

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00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:53,520
Speaker 2: build a nest together and at that point they become

357
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Speaker 2: what we call a mated bonded pair.

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Speaker 1: Have you ever dealt with golden eagles or only with

359
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 1: bald eagles?

360
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:20,239
Speaker 2: We do have two golden eagles here. Golden eagles are

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Speaker 2: incredibly beautiful animals. They actually fly higher than bald eagles

362
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,800
Speaker 2: and they're just absolutely gorgeous. If you have the opportunity

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00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 2: to see a golden eagle up close, you'll be amazed

364
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 2: at the coloring.

365
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 1: Now do you ever deal with icepray?

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Speaker 2: We actually have an osprey here in our care, this

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00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 2: particular osprey, her name is Styx st y X. She

368
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,679
Speaker 2: was found on a platform here locally, the local energy

369
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 2: company had built a platform for the ospreys to nest

370
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Speaker 2: and she had fallen in between the cracks of the

371
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 2: platform and her legs were splayed, and unfortunately that injury

372
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 2: prevented her from living into the wild, so she was

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00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 2: rescued and brought to us. She is a fantastic educational ambassador,

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Speaker 2: and I would even argue that osprey are just incredible

375
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Speaker 2: anglers fisher. The things that an osprey can do are

376
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Speaker 2: just really really unique.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing to watch an osprey going after fish.

378
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 2: And they have this kind of naturally, what I would

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00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,440
Speaker 2: almost say, menacing air about them. Their eyes are penetratingly

380
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 2: yellow or orange. They're not a bird you want to

381
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 2: mess with, for sure. And osprey and eagles are known

382
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 2: to kind of fight over territory.

383
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Speaker 1: Are they more aggressive than eagles?

384
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 2: I would say that they're very protective of their territory

385
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 2: and they don't want anyone coming into their area, and

386
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 2: they will absolutely fight for their space.

387
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,959
Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin wanted the American bird to be a turkey,

388
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,400
Speaker 1: which I think would somehow have been a totally different experience.

389
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 1: How did the bald eagle beat out the turkey?

390
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 2: You know, we're really not sure. We hear so much

391
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 2: different lore about that interaction. I wish I could ask

392
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 2: Benjamin Franklin why he wanted the turkey. But I think

393
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:21,399
Speaker 2: the bald eagle beat out the turkey just because of

394
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 2: its majesty. There's a naturally regal air about the bald eagle,

395
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:33,959
Speaker 2: even perched in a tree. They have this unique characteristic

396
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: of majesty, I guess is really the best way to

397
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,360
Speaker 2: describe it. And I think in that timeframe they were

398
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 2: probably very prevalent in the wild. They were beautiful birds,

399
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 2: and people were most likely just enamored of them and

400
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 2: felt like this would be a great representation of this beautiful,

401
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 2: fledgling country. And I think they chose wisely.

402
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: There's no quote in terms of just sheer beauty. But

403
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: Franklin did not like eagles. They said they're basically cowardly birds,

404
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: and that the turkey is magnificent and you can eat it,

405
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,480
Speaker 1: so I would. It's one of those things. But I

406
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 1: think for most Americans there is something about the look

407
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,440
Speaker 1: of a bald eagle that's kind of what you want

408
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: America to be. It's courageous, it looks directly at you,

409
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 1: It's magnificent as an animal.

410
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 2: And I'm not sure why he felt like the bald

411
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 2: eagles cowardly, because they certainly are not. They're beautiful animals.

412
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 2: And another really cool thing that I think a lot

413
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,760
Speaker 2: of people don't know is that bald eagles are endemic

414
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 2: to North America, so they don't exist anywhere else in

415
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,440
Speaker 2: the world other than Canada and the United States. Now,

416
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 2: there are other eagles, like sea eagles, who look similar,

417
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,439
Speaker 2: but the bald eagle exists here and so I think

418
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 2: ultimately we made absolutely the right choice, and it's represented

419
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 2: in the Great Seal on the Press re Sidential flag

420
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:06,399
Speaker 2: and most armed services flags. It's also such a unifying

421
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 2: symbol and not divisive at all. In fact, during the seventies,

422
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:14,760
Speaker 2: eighties and nineties, when the crisis around the bald eagle

423
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 2: was at its peak, all of America unified to help

424
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 2: save the bald eagle. We all rallied together to keep

425
00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,440
Speaker 2: this animal from the brink of extinction. And I think

426
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 2: that's just something that Americans can be very, very proud of.

427
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 1: It was put on a danger speech list in nineteen

428
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 1: sixty seven, and forty years later on two thousand and seven,

429
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,439
Speaker 1: it came off. Once you let them alone, they have

430
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 1: a natural pattern of reproducing and creating huge numbers. Somebody

431
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 1: has made the like seventy one thousand nesting pairs in

432
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 1: the continental US.

433
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,199
Speaker 2: Yeah, we want to keep that animal alive and well because,

434
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 2: as I mentioned before, they are indicator species for how

435
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 2: our environ around us is operating. And if the bald

436
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 2: eagle is flourishing, you can feel good knowing that the

437
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 2: environment around it is flourishing. And they are species that

438
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:17,640
Speaker 2: again live on rivers, lakes, streams close to natural sources

439
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,600
Speaker 2: of water, and it's a great indicator for how our

440
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 2: fish species are flourishing. So knowing that they are making

441
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 2: a very popular comeback is something that we can all

442
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,360
Speaker 2: really feel excited about.

443
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,199
Speaker 1: I've noticed that there's an increasing number of collisions. To

444
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 1: what extent are drones potentially dangerous to eagles?

445
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 2: I would say drones pose a risk to our bald eagles.

446
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 2: Wind turbines also pose a risk. There have been several

447
00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:54,200
Speaker 2: collisions with wind turbines. I think our bald eagles there

448
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 2: are several threats that still face them today. I certainly

449
00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 2: don't think they're as prevalent as the threat that DT posed,

450
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 2: but we still have threats, particularly highly pathogenic avian influenza,

451
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,200
Speaker 2: which is making a comeback in the United States. I

452
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 2: think that is something that we definitely need to keep

453
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,000
Speaker 2: an eye on monofilament line. We still have entangled bald

454
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 2: eagles in our rivers and lakes where monofilament is left behind,

455
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 2: So I think we have to really encourage our sports

456
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,440
Speaker 2: men and women and our outdoors people to recycle that monofilament.

457
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 2: We support hunting and fishing as valuable conservation tools. We

458
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 2: think they are valuable conservation tools and they help keep

459
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 2: the environment regulated, but we just definitely want to remind

460
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,640
Speaker 2: people to recycle that monofilament. And then lead poisoning is

461
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 2: another big threat that bald eagles face, and a lot

462
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,320
Speaker 2: of times when hunters might use lead shot and leave

463
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,880
Speaker 2: pieces of a carcass behind that has lead in it,

464
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 2: and a bald eagle might stumble upon it, a vulture

465
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 2: might stumble upon it and feed upon the carcass, that

466
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 2: lead gets in their system and then inevitably will kill

467
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 2: the bald eagle or the vulture. So those are still

468
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,280
Speaker 2: things that we as an organization try to educate people

469
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 2: on today.

470
00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection

471
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 1: Act goes all the way back to nineteen forty. I

472
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: mean that we've had a very long period of being concerned.

473
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,320
Speaker 2: About these absolutely, and it's an act that we bring

474
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 2: up probably on a daily basis. Here we take care

475
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,959
Speaker 2: of protected species and something that we're very proud of,

476
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,239
Speaker 2: and these species are still protected. They're not necessarily on

477
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 2: the endangered species list, but they're still protected here in

478
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 2: the US. It's illegal to own a golden or bald

479
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 2: eagle feather. You know, it does carry a fine. In fact,

480
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 2: when we clean our aviaries, if a feather has molted,

481
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 2: we keep it and then compile log it and send

482
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,520
Speaker 2: it to the Federal Reserve, where the Federal Reserve then

483
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:10,000
Speaker 2: distributes them to local and nationally federally recognized tribes for

484
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 2: ceremonial purposes.

485
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 1: How far away do you get eagles from.

486
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 2: We've gotten bald eagles from Alaska, and we've gotten bald

487
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 2: eagles from Florida. We've gotten bald eagles from Arizona. Really

488
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 2: all over the world. We got one from New York

489
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,520
Speaker 2: last year. We accept them from all over the United States.

490
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 1: You've been taking eagles to a lot of different events.

491
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: What would you say was the most exciting.

492
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 2: We have done a lot of events, but I would

493
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:44,000
Speaker 2: say probably the most exciting and meaningful for us are veterans'

494
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 2: events or children's events. Watching a veteran look at a

495
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 2: bald eagle, and again, bald eagles are represented on most

496
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 2: United States Armed Forces flags. They see that bald eagle,

497
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 2: and they see characteristics in that eagle that resonate within

498
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,920
Speaker 2: themselves in their service to the United States, and it's

499
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,720
Speaker 2: a powerful, powerful thing to witness. Flying for football games

500
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 2: is great, and it allows us to educate on a

501
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 2: mass scale, but seeing that interaction between a veteran or

502
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 2: an active service member with a bald eagle is probably

503
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 2: the most powerful, beautiful thing I've ever seen.

504
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 1: What's next for the American Eagle Foundation and what are

505
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,600
Speaker 1: things people can get involved with to help the American

506
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 1: Eagle Foundation?

507
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 2: Oh Man, this a wonderful question. So definitely, our rehabilitation

508
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 2: hospital is next on the agenda. We want to open

509
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,120
Speaker 2: that rehab hospital hopefully by the talent of twenty twenty six,

510
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,200
Speaker 2: which is also America two fifty. We think that would

511
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,560
Speaker 2: be a great time to really be able to announce

512
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 2: that those threats that still face bald eagles today were

513
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 2: prepared and ready to support those animals. I think also

514
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,600
Speaker 2: we've recently seen a resurgence in patriotism. For a while,

515
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,600
Speaker 2: we were kind of forgotten as American Eagle Foundation, and

516
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 2: people are starting to hear our name again and recognize

517
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 2: the work that we do, and we just hope that

518
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,600
Speaker 2: folks will continue to want to support the American Egle

519
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 2: Foundation through donations, going to our website and learning more

520
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 2: at our new facility, we actually host field trips for

521
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 2: all of our kids in the area, and we can

522
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 2: also provide those same field trips digitally for schools that

523
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,480
Speaker 2: aren't near us, and we can bring a bird into

524
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 2: our digital classroom and interact with students across the United

525
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,480
Speaker 2: States of America. We really want to educate that next generation.

526
00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 2: As you and I have been talking gen X. So

527
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,480
Speaker 2: I grew up recognizing the bald eagles and endangered species,

528
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,480
Speaker 2: and now it's off the list, and there's so many

529
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,440
Speaker 2: other animals that are on the list that the baldigle's

530
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 2: kind of been forgotten. And even my children didn't have

531
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 2: the kind of reverence and awe for the baldigle that

532
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 2: I did. And so we really want to educate and

533
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,200
Speaker 2: cultivate a passion for our nation symbol in the next generation.

534
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,080
Speaker 1: That's really great. Well, look, I'm going to thank you

535
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,520
Speaker 1: for joining me and for sharing the story of the

536
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 1: American Eagle Foundation. Our listeners can find out more by

537
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,480
Speaker 1: visiting your website at Eagles dot org, and I encourage

538
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:31,040
Speaker 1: them to do so.

539
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It was an honor and a

540
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:35,320
Speaker 2: pleasure speaking with you today.

541
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,080
Speaker 1: Thank you to my guest Jessica Hall. You can learn

542
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,400
Speaker 1: more about the American Eagle Foundation on our show page

543
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:47,720
Speaker 1: at newtsworld dot com. News World is produced by Genglish

544
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,920
Speaker 1: three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guarnsey Slum.

545
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show

546
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,759
Speaker 1: was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team

547
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,560
Speaker 1: at English three sixty. If you've been enjoying nuts World,

548
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 1: I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate

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Speaker 1: us with five stars and give us a review so

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00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,280
Speaker 1: others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners

551
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,080
Speaker 1: of newts World concerned up for my three free weekly

552
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:19,320
Speaker 1: columns at Gingwishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm new Gingwich.

553
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:20,760
Speaker 1: This is neut World