BALD EAGLE NESTING IN ILLINOIS

As you can see, the eagle has shown a dramatic increase in nesting territories in Illinois. The number of occupied territories doesn't necessarily mean that a pair of eagles actually bred and produced young. Immature birds may pair up and begin building nests before they are physically able to breed. We still count these as nesting territories, however. The number of young produced does not necessarily mean those birds lived to leave the nest. The number of birds fledged may be something less than the graph indicates.

In 1996, bald eagles nested in Alexander, Carroll, Calhoun, Fayette, Greene, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Mason, Pope, Pulaski, Union, Whiteside, Williamson and Winnebago counties.