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Florida's Eagle Habitats Limited by Hurricanes

NPR | By Ari Shapiro
Published December 24, 2004 at 10:00 PM MST
Lynda White holds a bald eagle at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. The bird, found with talon gouges in its back and skinned feet, was presumably injured during a territory fight after the storms destroyed nesting sites.
Ari Shapiro, NPR
Lynda White holds a bald eagle at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. The bird, found with talon gouges in its back and skinned feet, was presumably injured during a territory fight after the storms destroyed nesting sites.

This year's busy hurricane season has had a lasting effect on bald eagle populations in Florida.

Among the eagles needing care at the center is #653, a female with talon gouges in its back and skinned feet -- results of what the center's Lynda White believes to have been a fight over territory. Presumably, either #653 or the other eagle lost its nesting site in one of the hurricanes.

Central Florida has the largest concentration of bald eagles in the continental United States. NPR's Ari Shapiro continues his series on the long-term impact of several powerful storms of 2004.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro
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