Watch a Bald Eagle family grow!
New volunteer registration for the 2025 nesting season will begin December 1, 2024.
If you know of a Bald Eagle nest that you’d like to report, please email Brenna at bmarsicek@swibirds.org with the approximate GPS coordinates of the nest.
About Bald Eagle Nest Watch
The Bald Eagle was pushed to the brink of extinction by the effects of the pesticide DDT and other dangers in the mid-1900’s. There were only 100 nesting pairs left in the entire state of Wisconsin in 1972.
Bald eagle photo by Monica Hall
Since then, in one of the greatest conservation successes our country has seen, the population has rebounded. The banning of DDT and other restrictions has allowed the Bald Eagle to thrive once again. The Bald Eagle was delisted from the federal Endangered Species list in 2007. They have continued to thrive but they still face major threats such as lead poisoning, illegal poaching, nest disturbance, and car and train collisions.
How does the program work?
In 2018, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (then called Madison Audubon) began a citizen science program in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that seeks to better understand how Bald Eagles are doing in Wisconsin. Participants are matched with a Bald Eagle nest and visit it once per week for an hour each time, starting in February when adults begin repairing or building nests. During that hour, volunteers will observe and document the presence of young and what the family is doing. Weekly visits continue until the young fledge. All volunteers receive training that teaches them everything they’d need to know about Bald Eagles and the program.
The goals of Bald Eagle Nest Watch are to better understand how the Bald Eagle population is doing in Wisconsin as it relates to nesting success, reduce human-caused impact whenever possible, and raise awareness and appreciation among the community about their local Bald Eagles. With your help, we can do all of this and more!
Where does the program work?
We have 8 program areas:
Southern Wisconsin, focusing on many of the counties in the southern 1/3 of the state.
Southeastern area, in partnership with the Bald Eagle Socialites Club and Lac Lawrann Conservancy in Walworth, Racine, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties.
Fox Valley area, in partnership with 1000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna, including Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, and Calumet Counties.
Green Bay area, in partnership with Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve (Brown County Parks), including Brown, Oconto, and Shawano Counties.
Manitowoc area, in partnership with Woodland Dunes Nature Center & Preserve in Manitowoc County.
Door County, in partnership with The Ridges Sanctuary in Bailey’s Harbor in Door County.
Central Wisconsin area, including Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, and Wood Counties.
Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area, in partnership with Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek, including Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, and Rusk Counties.
Our program continues to grow. If you have a nest on your property and want to report data to our program, please contact Brenna (bmarsicek@swibirds.org) or Drew (drcashman11@yahoo.com).
Want to support this work? We appreciate donations in any size - thank you!
Registration for Bald Eagle Nest Watch 2024 is now closed.
But in case you’re curious, Notes and participant requirements:
Bald Eagle family photo by Arlene Koziol
No experience is necessary! We will host a training session to teach participants about Bald Eagle nesting and behavior around the nest, how to document observations and use the datasheet, and safety protocols.
All trainings are held online. Trainings are required for new volunteers, and returning volunteers are welcome to participate as well.
Please note: Most Bald Eagle nests are quite a far afield, requiring a 20-40 minute drive from where you live. We try to match you with the closest Bald Eagle nest to your home, but it still may require a time investment to get there. Thanks for understanding!
Volunteers will need to sign a data privacy form stating they won't share the nest location with individuals outside of the program. This is to protect the Bald Eagles.
Participants should have their own transportation to the nest site as well as binoculars. A spotting scope is recommended but not required for some nests.
Each nest will ideally have two separate individuals or groups assigned to it each season. This is to allow for cross-checking data and ensuring the nest still gets documented if one volunteer has to miss a week.
Volunteers should be able to commit to most or every week of the program. It is perfectly reasonable to need to miss a week or two here or there, and that's ok! But we do ask that you be able to make weekly visits for most of the season.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the program, please feel welcome to contact either Drew or Brenna! We will respond to you as quickly as possible.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Brenna Marsicek - Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (SoWBA) director of outreach, BENW statewide coordinator, and Central area lead
Email: bmarsicek@swibirds.org
Phone: 608-255-2473
Drew Cashman - SoWBA volunteer, BENW co-organizer, and Southern Wisconsin-area lead
Email: drcashman11@yahoo.com
Phone: 608-850-7264
Brad Garrity - 1000 Islands Environmental Center, Fox Valley-area lead
Email: bgarrity@kaukauna.gov
Phone: 920-759-5676
Logan Lasee - Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve and Brown County Parks, Green Bay-area lead
Email: logan.lasee@browncountywi.gov
Phone: 920-434-2824
Tony Kiszonas - The Ridges Sanctuary, Door County-area lead
Email: tony@ridgessanctuary.org
Phone: 920-839-2802
Kennedy Zittel - Woodland Dunes Nature Center, Manitowoc-area lead
Email: kennedyz@woodlanddunes.org
Phone: 920-793-4007
Jeanette Kelly - Beaver Creek Reserve, Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls-area lead
Email: csc@beavercreekreserve.org
Phone: 715-877-2212
Beth Martin - Bald Eagle Socialites Club (volunteer group), southeastern Wisconsin area lead
Email: bethbmartin@gmail.com
Phone: 773-456-2846
Want to go a step further?
Participation in Bald Eagle Nest Watch is free, but your voluntary donation will help support our important work and enable us to bring you more citizen science and outreach programming. If you are interested and able to make a donation, you can do so here.
Thank you!
Banner photo by Arlene Koziol
