With June just around the corner, a lot of breeding birds can be seen and heard almost anywhere outside. Some species of bird may even be building nests in one of your backyard trees or under the roof of the porch. 

Some of these nests are easier to see than others. Some nests are well hidden in bushes or high up in trees, where they can’t be seen. Others, like a hummingbird nest, are very small. 

There is one bird species in the region that builds a very big nest, and is active now.

If you are near a river or a quiet lake, you may be able to spot a bald eagle nest. Bald eagles build very large nests near the water; these are massive structures constructed of branches that are about six feet wide and weigh several hundred pounds. The largest bald eagle nest ever found was in Florida; the nest was over nine feet wide and weighed an estimated 4,400 pounds.

Nests start out small (about the weight of a small horse), but the addition of sticks every year can make a nest very large—as long as the tree holds out.

Eagles construct their nests fairly high in this area, 80-100 feet off the ground. The tree of choice is the white pine for about 80 percent of the nests in the region. Eagles pick a tree higher than the surrounding trees (a supercanopy tree). The perfect tree will have a crotch up at the desired height. Ideally, there will be an inverted tripod of branches of sufficient thickness to support the weight of the nest.

Eagles might move their nests to another tree in their territory, due to interference from other eagles or some other form of natural or man-made disturbance. Nest trees can be lost to heavy winds, especially with a massive nest high up. When this happens, the adults might start construction of another nest within a few days; they will wait until late winter before finishing the new nest so that it is ready for young the following spring.

If you spot a nest or a perched eagle, give it a wide berth so as not to disturb the eagle family. If you see one while paddling the river, just float with the current while observing, but don’t try to paddle toward the nest. If you want to see an active nest, check out the program by the Basha Kill Area Association at www.thebashakill.org.