SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. — Despite popular belief, the bald eagle is not the official national bird. However, it could soon become official, thanks to a Minnesota-led bill heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
At Kaposia Landing Park in South St. Paul, eagle-eyed bird watchers are treated to a symphony of sounds and sights.
“They’re just majestic, and I love the calls they make,” Ryan Sanford said.
Sanford remembers a time when it was rare to spot a bald eagle. However, in South St. Paul Park the population is booming, drawing people out to see the birds and take photos.
“The most I ever counted, and I just stopped counting, was 200,” Sanford said.
Allen J. Schaben
Sanford captured and counted the eagles and posted his findings in a growing Facebook group called “Kaposia Landing Park.”
“I’m usually here three to four times a week, usually on my morning walk with the dog,” he said.
Along the Mississippi River in Wabasha, the National Eagle Center helped lead the movement to make the bald eagle the official national bird.
“It goes back to the fact that it was chosen as a national symbol in 1782,” said Ed Hahn of the National Eagle Center.
After helping repopulate the once endangered species, they organized the push in Congress to officially designate the bald eagle as the Bird of America.
“We came very close to losing our national symbol forever,” Hahn said. “This was one of the last places in the continental United States where you could reliably see a bald eagle in the winter months. And that was a period when seeing a bald eagle was very important.”
Despite the more frequent sightings, birders like Dena Thorson of Cottage Grove say it’s still special to see a bald eagle in the wild.
“It’s really a story of comeback and perseverance and I think it’s a perfect symbol for the United States. I think wildlife can really connect people who are very different in a lot of ways and they can come together around something like this , and we certainly need more of that these days,” Thorson said.
Kirsten Mitchell
