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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />W ILDLI FE <br /> <br />Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) <br />Occurrence, Distribution and Abundance <br />The bald eagle is an unCOrTmon to locally COrTmon winter visitor and <br />migrant, and rare breeder, in northwestern Colorado (Bailey and Niedrach <br />1967). The major rivers of northwestern Colorado support up to 200 <br />individuals during winter with major populations occurring, along the <br />Colorado, White, Yampa, and Little Snake rivers (CDOW 1982). There are <br />presently 15 confirmed communal nocturnal roost sites between DeBeque <br />and New Castle, all of which are in riparian cottonwood stands along the <br />Colorado River (CDOW 1983a). There are al so three known nest sites <br />along the Colorado River between Parachute and Glenwood Springs (CDOW <br />1983a). One is about halfway between Parachute Creek and Rifle, at <br />Rulison, a second nest is about 5 miles southwest of Rifle near Webster <br />Hill, and a third nest is approximately 3 miles east of Rifle at <br />Antl ers. Each nest is in a mature cottonwood tree near the river as is <br />typical of the bald eagle (Call 1978 and others). <br />Adult bald eagles occupied territories associated with each nest and <br />showed nesting behavior early in the breeding period in 1981 but aban- <br />doned the areas by April. No eggs were 1 aid in any of the three nests. <br />The Rifl e-Antl ers nest was blown down by high winds in February, 1981. <br />Poss i bl e expl anations for nest abandonment incl ude: (1) incompl ete <br />reproductive behavior of adults on wintering areas, (2) disturbance <br />resulting from human presence and activity, and (3) food supply failure <br />(USBR 1981, BUM unpublished data). <br />The BLM (unpublished data) classified segments of the Colorado River <br />according to eagle population size. The 33.5 mile segment from OeBeque <br /> <br />- 32 - <br />