VICTORY ON MARCO ISLAND

Rosemary Tolliver, an Eaglewatch volunteer since 2018, monitors a nest on Marco Island and in 2021, the land surrounding the nest went up for sale. Tolliver attempted to nominate the land for purchase by the county as part of its Conservation Collier program, but soon learned that only the property owner is eligible to do so. Working with a city councilman, Tolliver got in touch with the listing’s realtor and eventually the owner, who was supportive of taking the property off the market and nominating it for purchase by Collier County. 

From there, Tolliver and Audubon of the Western Everglades (AWE) created grassroots campaigns to drum up support for the purchase. Tolliver created flyers to post at local businesses, spoke at county commission meetings, and sent letters of support. AWE mobilized its membership, driving dozens of calls and emails to the Collier Board of County Commissioners. Audubon Florida also advocated for its membership to support Conservation Collier during the budgeting season as the program faced funding cuts. 

Last fall, Tolliver got the news she had worked toward for more than two years: On October 24, 2023, the Commission approved the purchase of 3.22 total acres, encompassing the property with the nest and a couple of adjacent parcels. 

Tolliver says she burst into tears of joy, relief, and exhaustion. “I went to the nest site the next morning and told the eagles their home was safe,” she adds. 

Since then, the property has undergone a series of restorations, including the removal of invasive plants. The habitat is improved not just for eagles, but many other species that call Marco Island home. 

SYSTEMATIC LOSS OF CELL-TOWER NEST SITES LEAVES EAGLES HOMELESS WHERE TREES ARE SCARCE 

Across Florida, Bald Eagles build nests on cell phone towers. Roughly 20 percent of nests monitored by the EagleWatch Program occur on human-made structures like these; each summer, however, some of these nests are removed under federal permits for structure maintenance or equipment upgrades. Unfortunately, when eagle pairs returned to nest in the 2023-2024 season, many found that not only had their nest been removed (under federal permit), but the platform structure that held the nest had also been removed. 

EagleWatch Program Manager Shawnlei Breeding spoke directly to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials about the platform removals and learned that, regrettably, the current permits do not specifically prohibit structure alterations that would prevent Bald Eagles from nesting there in the future. This new trend of platform removals was likely prompted by the need to reduce the weight load on towers to accommodate the heavier 5G equipment and remain within the towers’ weight limit. 

Typically, if a tower nest is removed under permit, the eagles will just return and rebuild in the fall. But without a platform on which to build, pairs were unable to get any sticks to “stick” in the open space—as a result, many of those nest locations remained inactive all season. One tenacious pair in Bradenton elected to rebuild their nest on a lower array on the tower, which still had a platform, and eventually fledged two chicks. However, not every pair found a suitable work-around. 

Eliminating cell phone towers as possible nest sites could have a negative impact on nesting success for Florida’s Bald Eagles. EagleWatch monitoring data for the 2024 season shows that only 69 percent of the nesting attempts on human-made structures, including cell towers, produced fledglings compared to 82 percent for nests in trees. The failure to transition from showing interest in the location to actually laying eggs or hatching chicks in the nest could be explained by the loss of cell tower platforms on which to build. Once the pairs succeeded in hatching chicks, however, the survival rate of chicks in nests in human-made structures was similar to that of nests in trees (93 percent vs. 91 percent respectively). 

“If platform removals continue, it raises concerns for the future of nesting populations in counties like Pinellas and Hillsborough, where 60 percent of Bald Eagle nests are now on human-made structures,” explains Breeding. 

In rapidly developing counties, fewer trees are available for eagle nests. Losing any nesting sites, natural or human-made, is especially problematic for a species like the Bald Eagle that has strong nest site fidelity while also being fiercely territorial. Loss of natural habitat is forcing eagles to nest closer together than ever, further reducing options for a pair to relocate without risking injury or death due to territory fights with neighboring pairs. 

EagleWatch volunteers will play a vital role in documenting any changes to tower structures as we continue to monitor this trend. Data from the current season and beyond will be crucial in proving the impacts of these decisions as we engage with USFWS and communication companies to create solutions that benefit both the eagles and the cell tower owners. 

This article first appeared in the 2023-2024 EagleWatch report.