HABITAT MODELS FOR NESTING BALD EAGLES IN MAINE

Habitat models were derived for nesting Haliaeetus leucocephalus in river, lake, marine mainland, and marine island habitats. Compared to random sites, bald eagle nests were located on river stretches with a larger basin area, less forest edge, and closer to the shore. The lake model indicated that bald eagle nests were positively associated with the number of superdominant trees and negatively associated with distance to water, area of land disturbed by humans, and are of land harvested for timber. Number of diadromous fish species and area of water <1.8 m deep at low tide were positively associated with bald eagle nests in marine mainland habitats; length of roads near nests was a negative variable. Nests were located on smaller marine islands than were random points, resulting in nesting islands characterized by larger terrestrial and aquatic openings in the forest canopy, less forest edge, and a smaller area of combined shallow water and intertidal area. -from Authors