14-04-2025
Live cams give up-close look at bald eagle family in northern Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Michigan couple is broadcasting an up-close look at a bald eagle family nesting on their property.
Watch now: Great Lakes Bald Eagle Cam
is now live around the clock on YouTube, showing of the nest near Traverse City.
The homeowners behind Great Lakes Bald Eagle Cam told News 8 affiliate UpNorthLive out Traverse City that they bought the 60-acre property three years ago and that a contractor was the first to notice the nest.
The homeowners named the eagles Harry and Harriet. The pair hatched and raised three eaglets last year. The Great Lakes Bald Eagle cameras were installed in September 2024 and captured two eaglets hatching earlier this month.
Back from the brink: Michigan's bald eagle population soaring once again
At any given time, you can check in to see the eaglets and Harry and/or Harriet keeping watch over them. The homeowners expect the eaglets to attempt their first flights sometime in June or July.
The formerly endangered bald eagle is bouncing back across the country, including in Michigan. A by the Department of Natural Resources found approximately 900 breeding pairs in Michigan. That is up from 359 pairs in 2000 and 83 in 1980.
, Michigan likely didn't have a single pair in the early 1960s. , a chemical compound once commonly used in pesticides, nearly drove the bald eagle to extinction. Researchers found elevated levels of DDT in the bald eagle population. They were able to determine that the compound caused eggshells to become extremely brittle, and they would often break when the mother or father tried to keep the eggs warm.
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In 1963, a national survey found an estimated 417 nesting pairs across the entire continental United States. In 1969, Michigan became the first state to ban the use of DDT. The bald eagle gained national protection when the was passed. The bird was eventually promoted to 'threatened' in 1995 and removed from the list altogether in 2007.
It is still, however, illegal to hunt bald eagles in the United States.
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