Norfolk Botanical Garden eaglet gets satellite tracker

One of the three baby eagles nesting at Norfolk Botanical Garden was outfitted Wednesday with a device many parents would love to have for their children - a satellite transmitter to track its whereabouts. // College of William and Mary scientists scooped a female from her nest, attached a small, 2-1/2- ounce backpack transmitter and returned her to her parents. They plan to follow her movements for three years to learn more about eagle roosting and migration as well as eagle ecology around the Chesapeake Bay.

It's the first Hampton Roads eaglet to be tracked in the W&M Center for Conservation Biology's bald eagle research project. The center is already following 65 eagles in the upper Bay area using the transmitters.

"Birds from the Chesapeake Bay area tend to be residents year-round, but we don't know much about their movement around the area," said Bryan D. Watts, director of the college's conservation center.

"Another thing we don't know much about is how long they're dependent on their parents," he said.

The eaglets - two girls and a boy - are about 2 months old and are close to their adult weights of about 10 pounds. Because they're still nestlings and have not yet developed their flight feathers, Watts said, it's the optimal age to attach the transmitter and begin tracking.

Watts, with the assistance of professional tree climbers, scaled a towering loblolly pine and removed the largest of the three eaglets - a female they named Azalea for tracking purposes.

Once she was carried down, biologists cloaked her head in a hood to keep her calm. Then they fitted her with a solar-powered GPS transmitter backpack. The device uses a Teflon harness that loops around the bird's wings and attaches at the breast.

The eaglet didn't appear stressed during the process and in fact fell asleep several times, her head drooping to one side.

"She's still a baby and sleeps a lot," garden spokeswoman Amy Dagnall said.

Watts said backpack transmitters have been used for years on several bird species.

"They get used to wearing it," he said.

Occasionally, though, a transmitter is lost or broken. The team put transmitters on a dozen nestlings last spring in the upper Chesapeake Bay. All but one are still functioning.

The eagle's locations will be transmitted to William and Mary, and the data will be used to map her daily travels. The data and map are on the Center for Conservation Biology's Web sites: www.eagletrak.wmblogs.net and www.ccb.wm.edu/eagletrak.

The cost of the project is $23,000. The college is providing the equipment and personnel, but funding is needed for data collection fees, about $6,300 for three years.

An eagle adoption program has been set up at www.wildlifetracking.org with $25, $50 and $100 donation levels. The center's Web sites also link to the donation site.

Contributions also can be mailed to The Center for Conservation Biology, Attention: Carla Schneider, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795.

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com