bald eagle has seen a large increase in its population. During the last 40 years, the bald eagles were believed to be endangered and nearly extinct. But now these symbolic birds have made a comeback in North Carolina and in many other regions across the country.

The conservation efforts had finally paid off as the birds have shown an immense recovery in the improved environment.

In North Carolina, state biologists freed the first young bald eagles near Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County in 1983. Until then, no bald eagle was seen nesting there.

According to David Allen, the supervisor of the wildlife diversity program for the state Wildlife Resources Commission, presently there are around 192 bald eagle nesting areas, including the current and the past nesting areas. Allen said that this count can be much lesser than the actual number, as the increase in these areas has led to the decline of counting efforts.

The number of the bald eagles declined in 1782 when they were chosen for the national emblem. After that the people started hunting them, the trees where they used to nest were cut down and the source of their food rivers were polluted.

The mid-20th century was the most crucial time for the bald eagles existence as that time DDT, a deadly pesticide, reached the fish that the eagle ate, which led to the reproductive abnormalities in the bald eagles.