A glimpse of majesty in the skies

A few of the more than 400 people visiting Schell Osage Conservation Area on Saturday, Feb. 6, participate in Eagle Days by taking advantage of the assistance of Conservation Department personnel and spotting scopes to view bald eagles during this year's Eagle Days event. --Rusty Murry/Daily Mail

In spite of the cold weather, cloudy skies and sloppy, muddy roads, the Missouri Department of Conservation hosted its bi-annual Eagle Days program at the Schell Osage Conservation Area, Feb. 5-6 to educate visitors about the bald eagle and the golden eagle.

The Eagle Days program has a long history at Schell Osage. Beginning in 1979, the administration of the program has changed some, but the content is still about the same. According to Lana Wilson of the MDC office in El Dorado Springs, the program used to be conducted by the natural history division. Now it is done by local personnel.

The program has always featured a film and a live eagle. Originally conducted on a weekend, the event that has changed to Friday and Saturday, so a school day could be incorporated into the program and give as many children as possible the chance to participate.

It has worked out very well. Visitors at any of the dozen or so events across the state can see an informative film featuring wild birds and the captive birds used in the presentation. They also can learn about the two species in general and get some information specific to the captive birds they view firsthand, during the presentation.

The two birds featured this year at Schell Osage were both adult birds. When not used for education the birds are housed at the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield. The zoo has eagles on display all the time but the two traveling birds are used "strictly for education," according to Pam Price, conservation education director for the zoo.

After the short film, the bald eagle named Phoenix was taken from his carrier and shown to the audience. He twittered a lot, stretched his head and neck straight up and made a huffing sound that was very unusual. Phoenix did get excited a time or two and open up those big wings, but Price, who was showing the bird kept him under her control and focused on showing him off while zoo volunteer Jan Carter informed the crowd about him.

Visitors learned that Phoenix was hacked out in the hacking tower at Schell Osage in 1989. For some reason, the big bird didn't take well to hunting and was located on the ground by department personnel who became concerned when the radio tracking device showed the bird to be stationary for a long time. The bird has since become the ambassador of the program. Birds are no longer hacked at Schell Osage, because vandals burned the topmost portion of the tower located near Bell Pond about a year ago.

After Phoenix was put into his travel container, Aquila, an adult golden eagle was brought out and shown to the crowd. Aquila was handled by zoo volunteer Kathy Binkley and Carter presented the information. Visitors discovered that Aquila is 8-9 years-old and was rescued by a conservation agent near the town of Noel, Mo. It seems that the fierce predator spotted a coyote in a rancher's trap and tried to make a meal of him but got caught up in a nearby fence and could not escape. Tendon damage to his left wing took six months in the hospital to heal, but he is unable to fend for himself. He is used for education, especially to illustrate the differences between the two species.

For instance, golden eagles are larger than bald eagles, and the females of both species are larger than the males. The golden eagles commonly reach weights of 13 pounds compared to the 10 pounds of the bald eagle. The bald eagle is primarily a fish eater, but they will catch and consume a duck or a goose, especially a crippled or wounded bird.

The golden eagles are strictly predators and will catch and kill rodents, reptiles, other birds and have been known to tackle game as large as deer and mountain goats. Golden eagles make up a very small percentage of the eagles in the state. Just a handful migrate through Missouri during any given year, whereas the bald eagle will be here in numbers nearing 2,000 birds.

Thanks to restoration efforts, there are many bald eagles once again nesting and raising their young in Missouri. Those young will return here to nest also. There is one nest at Schell Osage that has been used for a number of years and more nests are showing up along the Osage River and other parts of the state every year. Biologists estimate the state's summer population at about 300 eagles.

Even though this year's Eagle Days didn't see the crowds like some previous years it was a success. As many "as 1,000 people a weekend" have been at some of the events, according to Wilson. Friday was school day and according to conservation agent Joni Bledsoe, 204 children from area schools took part in the program, and on Sat. 422 people attended the event to see the ambassadors, hear the presentation and enjoy food and refreshments provided by members of the Schell City community.

After the presentation, visitors were shown a map of the area giving the location of spotting scopes set up by MDC. The location of the eagle's nest was shown on the map. Visitors could use the scopes to view the eagles that were on the area. MDC personnel were on hand to assist visitors in spotting the eagles and using the scopes.

Eagle Days events take place during the winter months in several different locations. To find out more, contact: Eagle Days, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102 or call (573) 751-4115 or look online at mdc.mo.gov to discover more about Eagle Days and all of the department's educational opportunities.