Bald Eagles In Abaco
By Alice Bain - The Abaconian 1 April 2002

Two Bald Eagles were sighted over Marsh Harbour recently by local ornithologist Ron Pagliaro, of Abaco Outback kayak adventure tour company. On March 13th Ron and his wife Erin were getting ready to take a group of visitors on a kayak trip. "I looked up over the harbour, says Ron, "and saw some Man-O-War birds, and in the flock I saw two birds that looked like hawks with blunt wings.

I got my binoculars out excitedly. When I got a better look at the birds and realized what I was seeing, I started yelling for Erin to get the camera! Last year Ron and one other birder sighted a Bald Eagle over Marsh Harbour but did not get photographic evidence of the eagle so it could not be officially recorded.

This time they got some pictures of the eagles. "We were very lucky to see them, continues Ron. "Two of the twenty shots I took actually came out so that you could see the field marks of the birds. A boater also spotted one of the eagles over the harbour again that night around dark.

The photographs are unfortunately not of a quality that would reproduce well in the newspaper, but enlargements of the two successful shots clearly show a large raptor with a white head and a white tail"unmistakable field marks of the Bald Eagle. There has never been an official recorded sighting of a Bald Eagle in the Bahamas.

If the sighting can be confirmed by various birding associations in North America, this will add an important piece of data to the body of knowledge concerning the range and habits of these famous birds. Bald Eagles include Florida in their range but have not been sighted in the West Indies. Seeing them here raises questions.

Are they "rare vagrants who just wander over once in a while? Are they colonizing on Abaco? Or were they blown off course during a hurricane last year and decided to stay? Ron and other Abaconian birdwatchers will be keeping their eyes open for clues to this mystery.

Although the sighting has not yet been reviewed by any ornithological organizations, Ron has sent copies of the photos in and it should be confirmed by the end of March.