1st Bald Eagle Nest In More Than 2 Centuries Is Found In Philadelphia

Sunday, March 18th 2007, 9:34 pm

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Wildlife authorities have found the first bald eagle nest in the city in more than 200 years and hope the occupants will produce offspring, state officials said.

The nest ``demonstrates the resilience of this species and its apparent growing tolerance to human activity,'' said Dan Brauning, a supervisor with the state Game Commission, in a statement Friday.

Officials are not disclosing the nest's exact location, to avoid disturbing it, but it is being closely monitored, the commission said.

``We don't know if the nest will result in the pair successfully breeding and laying eggs yet, but we are very hopeful,'' Brauning said.

The state began a campaign to re-establish the eagle population in 1983, when only three nesting pairs remained in Pennsylvania. Officials said last year that the number was higher than 100.

Bald eagles were upgraded from endangered to threatened status by the federal government in 1995 and by the state a decade later.