I don’t know why it had never occurred to me before, but there are numerous bald eagles in the greater Houston area, if you are of a mind to try to spot one in the wild.
The bald eagle has been synonymous with the U.S. since the dawn of the country more than 240 years ago.
But it wasn’t until President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on Christmas Eve that the bald eagle officially became the national bird of the U.S. Formerly on the endangered species list, the bald eagle has made a tremendous comeback in recent years with more than 300,000 birds flying across the United States.
That includes birds in the Houston area.
“This is a great place to see bald eagles because we’re the Bayou City, and there’s a lot of waterways. We have green spaces, plenty in the region, along the Brazos or along some of the other rivers,” said Richard Gibbons, the director of conservation for the Audubon Texas. “If you’re along a river and you’re looking up or by a lake, there’s a good chance you’re going to be near an eagle.”
[…]
The most recent bald eagle population report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which was released to the public in March 2021 on population numbers in 2018 and 2019, estimates 316,700 individual bald eagles in the contiguous U.S. The department said that’s four times more than its estimates from the previous decade.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says bald eagles can be found year-round in the state, especially with breeding bald eagles found along the coastal communities from Rockport to Houston.
Gibbons said he sees bald eagles all the time in Sienna and suggests people going out to look for bald eagles also look at what juveniles look like. It takes a few years for the iconic white head and tail to fully develop in bald eagles so an amateur bird watcher might see a black bird in the sky and not realize it’s a young bald eagle.
He also recommends asking people in wildlife areas for advice and guidance on where they might be able to spot bald eagles because they might be able to direct you to a good place to watch.
Binoculars also help.
“It’s possible if you live along a water body that you could just get out in the backyard and stare up into the sky but that’s not very good advice,” Gibbons said. ‘I would say, go to a nearby wild area near water. But more importantly, ask the park rangers or ask anybody that’s there.”
Specifically, the TPWD says:
Bald Eagles are present year-round throughout Texas as spring and fall migrants, breeders, or winter residents. The Bald Eagle population in Texas is divided into two populations; breeding birds and nonbreeding or wintering birds. Breeding populations occur primarily in the eastern half of the state and along coastal counties from Rockport to Houston. Nonbreeding or wintering populations are located primarily in the Panhandle, Central, and East Texas, and in other areas of suitable habitat throughout the state.
This Chron story from April, which is a sidebar link from the one above, contains a map of where the known eagles’ nests are, mostly in south-southwest Montgomery County and north Harris County, more or less northwest of IAH. There’s a well-known nesting pair in a particular development of The Woodlands that would be easy enough to find; beyond that I’d probably do some Googling or looking on Reddit for more detailed directions. I suppose I had always thought of bald eagles as more northern birds, so I’m happy to have that misperception corrected. Have you ever seen one of these creatures? Leave a comment and let us know.
There have been bald eagle sightings in Pearland.
https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/pearland/news/article/Pearland-residents-get-to-watch-baby-bald-eagles-11063422.php
There used to be a nest near my place which is close to Buffalo Bayou at Briar Forest. I see them flying low over my place several times a year. Always great and inspiring
To check on local sitings, iNaturalist is a good resource.