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American Eagle premiered Sunday night (check local listings). If you watched, we’d love to hear what you think!
The bald eagle may be an American icon, but most of us know very little about this aerial predator. American Eagle goes behind the scenes and into the nest to provide the ultimate bird’s eye view into the private life of this striking raptor.
What was your favorite part of the episode?
What did you find interesting or surprising?
Use the comment form below to share your thoughts with NATURE viewers everywhere.
(27 votes)
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It was amazing!
As eagle volunteer watchers in Western NYS, we thoroughly enjoyed your production! Wonderful photography, a well written script and flawless execution of the project. Congratulations with what should win an Oscar!
Absolutely Fantastic!!!
Anyone remember the town the hatchery was located at?
Great program.
Very reminiscent of my days in Alaska! Fabulous program!
Truly amazing photography and inspiring dialog, great use of TV
What a beautiful program! Thank you!
Great program, I learned alot about our National Symbol tonight.
Loved it! ****
I’m buying this I think; I’m going to save it for my kids. Amazing program
I wrote something because of this program, I was going to mail it to the producers or something, but I’ll put it here. It might be terrible but I thought I’d share anyway
Herald the Eagle
My one eyed bride
My child newborn
In the nest I have built
Winter is passing
I return and
She goes out
Long I wait for her
Through the dark and bitter storm
The dawn comes
But she does not
I stand here
All I had hoped for is lost
It is quiet now
I will cry herald
And survey my land.
In the Nature program on the Bald Eagle, it was stated that Congress banned DDT in 1973. That is incorrect; Congress did not act on DDT. DDT was banned in June 1972 by William Ruckelshaus, the first Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Thanks for pointing that out, Charles. We can all enjoy it that much better now.
I loved the documentary on the AMERICAN BALD EAGLE! Great work! It was beautiful to see the male and female both taking turns to sit on the eggs and then to raise their young. It was heartwrenching to hear and see that the female eagle with one eye did not make it. But, it was also heartwarming to see the male continue to successfully breed the following year.
Here in south Louisiana (I live in Bourg, LA) we are seeing more and more eagle sightings closer to home. Today I saw three flying over my home and yesterday I saw five about 20 miles from here. We also have a yearly Eagle Expo in my area where experts come to talk about the eagle population and we go on boat tours to see the nests and eagles in their natural habitat. I was able to get some great shots of bald eagles in 2008. You can view them on my website: http://www.bayoubellephotography.com
Being a wildlife photographer myself, I am very happy that the eagle population is progressively increasing each year locally. What a beautiful majestic bird!
we follow several eagle cams at IWS.org – the Channel Island restoration program – and thoroughly enjoyed the show – have already ordered the DVD! Path – very nice tribute! Again – great show!
As a staff member of a raptor education and rehabilitation facility, I am priveleged to work with eagles closely. Recently, I rescued two eagles — one that had likely hit a power line and another caught in a trap — and I regularly work with another eagle, holding her on the glove as an education bird. Looking into an eagle’s eyes from six inches away is unforgettable, but the recent program about eagles, and Neil Rettig’s amazing photography, reminded me that the most impressive experience with eagles is to see them living and flying free.
I only got to see the last half of the program, but the information and execution were riveting. I am now on the mailing list, and will continue to look for this and other programs in the series. Certainly a first rate program, and kudos to the sponsors (Johnson, Canon, and cpb) and the crew for making a great documentary!
My wife and I have watched a mating pair of Bald Eagles for a number of years and are fascinated by them. Occasionally we get treated to a fly-over and it is always a great experience. The photography in the video was fabulous and plan to order it soon.
This will be a wonderful classroom resource for my 5th graders who will participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count at the Noxubee Refuge where several pairs of American Bald Eagles reside. I will order this resource for my classroom because it is so compelling with so many of life’s lessons.
I teach a class called Positive Indian Parenting. I really would like to use this for the portion called Lessons in Nature. I think it shows the importance of fathers and the positive roles in their children’s lives.
I would just like to say thank-you… I truly believe this was one of the best documentaries I have ever seen!…I appreciate the time, effort and money that went into the making of this film…I will be asking my family for a copy of this particular film for Christmas…and then will be able to enjoy and apprieciate the bald eagle time and time again…thank-you.
I loved it! The Bald Eagle is truly a beautiful animal. I hope they put this series out in box set.
We were recently in the area of the filming, birdwatching. This film was only a tip of the iceburg. The beauty of the eagle is ours only if we respect it and where it lives. Watch, learn, listen, and leave alone. Thank you Neil Rettig for your film . Always keep your eyes to the sky, and your ears to the wind. ps. and your batteries charged
As an avid online eagle nest watcher I have seen many of these behaviors on live streaming video including the sad, scarey sibling rivalry. This program was excellent..the video was gorgeous! They managed to put so much information about this beautiful bird into their 1 hour program!! Congratulations all around to you.
The main group that I belong to is Hancock Wildlife Foundation(non-profit) at hancockwildlife.org which broadcasts 3 different eagle nests. It was started by noted eagle biologist David Hancock of British Columbia several years ago to teach the general public and school children in their classrooms about these wonderful birds. Your film is very close to his teachings.
We have been talking about this program for weeks…watching your trailers and waiting to see it with great anticipation. It lived up to expectations for sure!!! I plan to watch this program over and over!! Thanks so much!!! We loved it!!!!
I’m fortunate to live just a mile and a half up the road from the nesting pair at the NE Iowa trout hatchery. I’m sure the location wasn’t disclosed to protect the birds. However, they’re used to human activity nearby, the nest is literally in someone’s backyard. It was facinating to see what’s actually going on up in there. And Neil Rettig’s cinematography of the entire upper Mississippi valley setting was truly spectacular.
Thank you for this beautifully filmed and narrated film about one of nture’s most fascinating birds. We occasionally get to see them from afar but never so “up close and personal”! Wonderful!!!
Being Wisconsin resident, a lover of the upper Mississippi a.k.a “Big Muddy”, and a huge fan of raptors this episode of Nature turly touched me.I’ve been watching Nature every Sunday since I was kid and never have I been so moved by the program. I am so happy the world got a chance to see what I’ve seen and what I see every migration season. I encourage those who know people who haven’t seen this episode of Nature or for anyone who wants to know more about the Bald Eagle to watch this program and visit the upper Mississippi during migration season, it turly is a site to see. Thank you PBS.
My husband and I were fascinated with this beautiful film. Did not realize there were so many of the beautiful birds in that area of the country. I’ve been lucky to spot one twice here in Colorado but never have seen more than one. Thank you PBS.
Thanks!
Thanks for a wonderful film! In east-central Iowa we’re seeing more and more eagles as the weather turns colder.
Fantastic!! I work with a certified Raptor rehabilitator and this program was so inspiring. We have never had an eagle to care for as there is only one place certified in our state to do so, but after working with red tail hawks, Barred owls, kestrals and others, I was amazed at the strength and beauty of these eagles. It is good to see them coming back from near extinction.
Great program, great work by the photograper and an inspration for us all.
My husband and I just caught the last half hour of the program and were thrilled to see it. We immediately recognized our home state of Minnesota–it was great to know that the rest of the country got to see what we are so privileged to see daily. We live 2 miles from the Mississippi and eagles regularly fly over our house. We also have a sail boat on the St. Croix river, which drains into the Mississippi, and have an eagles nest at our marina which this year had 2 young eaglets. When I was growing up, the eagle was expected to be extinct by 1980 and I never thought I would see one in the wild, much less in my backyard! Wonderful production and many thanks to everyone who made it happen.
Thank you for such a wonderful portrait of this gorgeous raptor. I didn’t realize how little I knew about eagles and this was an education. I was all misty at the end when ‘underdog’ took flight. The photography was stunning – all the close-ups and the birds ‘playing rugby’.
I feel fortunate to have seen this footage. My heart broke when I learned that hunters leave lead-bullet-infested carcasses which then poison the eagles, and presumably many other carrion feeders as well. I must look into that and find out if any action is being taken to prevent such waste of life.
Thank you for this wonderful documentation of a most incredible raptor.
The video was spectacular!!
I did not know the eagle pair shared siting on the eggs and feeding the chicks. I was also surprised to see the coot making up a big part of their diet.
Never thought about the affects of feeding on game killed with lead.
Having made the trip to the Mississippi in Winter to see the eagles, I was very impressed with the Video!!
For Ryan above: The hatchery is in Decorah, IA
The video was awesome! My children and I enjoyed it totally! It was very educational for both me and my children. Thanks for enlighting us on the effects of animals being killed with bulletts containing lead or arrows. We loved it! This is just one more reason, along with millions more to Go Green. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
We enjoyed the presentation and found it to be a personal look at the Bald Eagle rather than a boring, unemotional narrated version! We follow several live feed cams – with “nestorations” to begin again soon on the Channel Islands – at http://www.IWS.org. Their comeback has been slow and not without hardships – some shown on the documentary. But we continue to support the effort and celebrate that we’ve finally taken responsibility and are working to undo the wrong. Thank you (I’ve already ordered my copy)
We went with our children to a place at lake of the Pines in Texas to see if we could count any eagles, during the counting season one year.. We were so pleased to be able to spot bald eagles.. this was many years ago when our children were small..
The adventure gave us a lifelong love for them and
this film is amazing as we have never had the priveledge to look into a nest to see the babies.
This close up view of their life and death is heart wrenching and encouraging to see what has been done to save these beautiful raptors.. I will be purchasing the video. All our thanks for such a fine production.
My wife and I are wild bird rehabilitators in West Virginia and from time to time we work with both Bald and Golden eagles. We loved the footage and the commentary. No matter how often one may work with such animals, there is always more to learn. The comment about the eagle dying from lead poisoning was especially personal. We have lost 2 eagles in this way and I can vouch for how hard and expensive it is to treat this condition. And to have the bird die despite one’s efforts is utterly traumatizing.
I am a hunter as well and it is my wish to see lead ammunition eliminated completely and replaced with something that doesn’t leave the world polluted with such a poison. I have found old bullets lying on the ground, seen it in stream beds, and twice cut into bullets while chainsawing into trees. The stuff is everywhere.
What a gorgeous documentary of the Bald Eagle. I have been watching live eagle cams for over 3 years now and just wanted to make a few ‘corrections’ to the information moderated on this documentary. Firstly, the bird is a Bald Eagle…not an ‘American’ Bald Eagle and secondly, their chicks are not babies (mammals have those) they are called eaglets until they fledge and then they are ‘Juvenile’s until they become sub-adults at 2-3 years of age. Otherwise, this was a beautifully shot documentary which shows a lot of away from the nest activities which we cannot view very often watching eagle cams. Thank you so much for airing it. The more people understand this majestic raptor the less likely they are to do things which can cause their demise.
Compliments to PBS and the Bald Eagle film producers. Great job. Lots of excellent data and images. I like the shots of the juveniles and imatures hunting coots. I suspect the coot capturing to be by the immatures and not the very inexperienced juveniles. I wished we had done it.
I love the debate on the “American Bald Eagle” vs the Bald Eagle. This gets confusing as the bird does not exist in half of America — South America. If the intent was to suggest the use of the word “American” was equal to the United States of America that is of course somewhat offbase. There are more bald eagles in Canada than in the US. However, lets not quibble — the maginficant bald eagle is certainly the “sea eagle” of North America.
David Hancock,
Hancock Wildlife Foundation
http://www.hancockwildlife.org for Live Streaming Bald Eagles
As an avid “live-cam eagle nest” Research Monitor for Hancock Wildlife Foundation http://www.hancockwildlife.org I found your show to be very informative.
Beautifully done. Thank You.
I enjoyed the program very much, particularly the footage of courtship flights and other behaviours that aren’t normally seen even on webcams.
One small quibble I had was the repeated reference to the eaglets as “babies” – in a documentary of this type I feel it is important to use appropriate and accurate terminology at all times. These aren’t mammals, and so the young aren’t “babies” – the term “eaglet” is of course the best and most accurate one.
I enjoyed program. I showed a lot insight. It reminded me of Washington, DC’s George and Martha. It’s a story of two eagles located near the Wilson Bridge reconstruction and how Martha was killed by another eagle so that the other eagle could mate with George.
We just completed an Elderhostel on the upper Mississippi and among many great adventures we visited the raptor center and had a terrific lecture and viewing of a live injured bald eagle. A great documentary most enjoyable.
What a delight to watch, Our daughter and her husband have a home in Northern Wisconsin that is on one of the highest hills with the tallest tree. Almost every year we hear the Eaglets and watch the flights, but our binoculars do not show nor give the story like you presented in this magnificent video. We missed the first half of the program. We are ordering a DVD to give them for Christmas. What a joy to watch and visual for the children to see. With much gratitude.
Please stop feeding video in a way that causes internet explorer to use huge amounts of CPU resource. Not at all needed for fine quality streaming and makes the web way to “full” (reduces bandwith for all and makes my video choppy).
I enjoyed most the video coverage of the hatchery nest and thought the lead poisoning issue was most interesting! I am a wildlife biologist in Montana and have been monitoring bald eagle nest activity and production for six years. I learned a lot of natural history from the video and plan to share it with my coworkers!
I totally enjoyed the program. I too grew up in a time when seeing a Bald Eagle was rare, and considered a privilege. I now live on a small lake in Oregon where a Bald Eagle(s) hunts daily for coots and fish. This fall I watch a pair of them tag team a small cackling goose. I look forward to future programs.
Great show, really enjoyable. I live in MN and spend a lot of time out on the Mississippi watching and photographing eagles in the winter. I’ve also been to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve which is an incredible place. It’s really nice to see a focus on the recovery of birds here in the lower 48! Interesting for those who know a lot about eagles, as well for people who aren’t so familiar.
Eagles remain on the edge of our experience. Behind our cabin on the shore of a northern Maine lake, my wife was grooming our 3 month old, white and woolly Labradoodle. An immature bald eagle swooped through the pines, headed for the dog, and dropped a 2 pound bass at her feet. My wife grabbed the dog and went for cover. The bird climbed high and headed for the lake without touching the puppy. We learned that eagles do carry off lambs. Did this one relent about eating a lamb-like lunch? Was the fish an offering to our family? or a lost, lesser lunch?
The American Eagle program was spectacular, a once in a decade treat.
The Wisdom and the lessons that God has written within every fiber & facet of His creation ALWAYS AMAZE me!!! The image & lessons that we can take from the Eagle are already widely recognized by all – especially our Nation. As a Clinical Psychologist & a Seminary graduate I have often used the Eagle in my ministry and in my work in helping people overcome magnitudes of problems. I will use this video in my own work & teaching using Scripture and/or Metaphor much in the future.
I remember when the American Bald Eagle was put on the endangered species list when I did volunteer work for Sierra Club in NYC yeraslong gone. I never thought I would ever seee one unless I traveled to Alaska or Minnesota because there were virtually none in the lower 48. The rebound since then has been astounding and I see them regularly over the Hudson River Valley and upstate New York.
Your film was beautifully shot; an illustration for a story well told. The images were gorgeous with scenes that were starkly beautiful and wondrous. The cinematography was excellent and it made me proud to be a part of the environmental movement back in it’s beginnings and see the resuts today depicted in your beautiful film. Thank God for your series and for PBBS in general.
It is the their fight against humankind that makes them stronger.
I would have pruchased this DVD but do my children really need to see the pecking brutality in the nest? I know–it’s life. But with so little time for innocence and gentleness in this world–I will forgo the beauty of the film, to spare my wee ones such cruelty in living colour.
Enjoyed this enormously – the nesting scenes were especially interesting! Good job!
I really enjoyed this program. Fantastic photography! Well put together and written. Watching a pair of eagles over time was fascinating. Thank you!
as a person that loves eagles i waited for a program like this for many years. thank you
Glad to see this type of videolog on such a great creature making a comeback…gives a glimmer of hope..
I watched this with my children, and we loved it! I was surprised at the footage of the female’s unexplained death. The nest cams were also amazing. I worked in Panama for the Peregrine Fund, and monitored the first time a Harpy Eagle chick was re-introduced to its parents after having been taken as an egg. The cinematography in this video was infinitely better than the cams scientists have. This is very well produced and I have already highly recommended it to others. Thanks for posting it in its entirity for the public to view.
Viewed this excellent, wonderfully-filmed documentary on my laptop, 2/22/09. I can readily identify with the sightings described in Alaska, because I personal-ly observed hundreds of them along the riverbank, while relocating to Eielson AFB, AK (9/81), after traveling the ‘Inside Passage,’ from Seattle, WA. Once again, well done PBS!!! Your excellence in viewing continues, undiminished.
Thank you for this beautiful and touching documentary on the bald eagles. It was very moving and brought tears to my eyes and also joy at watching them overcome so much. I think the bald eagle and other birds of prey are so beautiful! I am crazy about bald eagles and try to learn everything I can about them. I only wish I could watch them in the wild, but I enjoy watching them on the numerous cams around the country. Thank you PBS for this wonderful opportunity to learn about our national symbol!
I watched these episodes via the web while excersizing on my treadmill! Your awe-inspiring photography and dialogue kept me rivited long after I would normally have given up! What an inspiration…great job!
THANK you for making this available from the web for those of us who were unlucky enough to have caught this the first time.
great! there was supposed to be a webcam, but can’t find it
Do Eagles have eaglets every year? Do the eaglets leave the nest by fall? Where do they go? Will they build nests nearby the parents or is there not a pattern?
The film was excellent and the cinemetography was incredible! Thank you for this!
Wonderous! Thank you so much for providing this program on the net.
Absolutely awesome! Thank you.
Beautiful and amazing! I was surprised to know that the female eagle is so inexperienced and the male helps with the babies. My granddaughter and I have been studying birds, and this film helped put a lot together. Thanks so much and look forward to more. I think this is the first time my husband watched a full show!
Nizhoni – Great! Eagles are sacred and provide guidance and strength in Indigenous world.
THANK YOU MY FREND
REALY REALY WAS GREAT!!!!!
AND GOD BLESS AMERICA
The most beautiful and amazing video and photos of Eagles I’ve seen. I’m much into the Eagles nest in Sydney B.C., Canada and have been since they hatched. Sorry to say Canada has too many restrictions and many nests have lost some babies. Not Sydney though for the parents built a huge nest which now holds 3 eaglets, who are due to fledge in 4 wks. Seeing your fledging edpisode helped me to prepare for whats to come. This is truly a masterpiece you have produced. Txs. from a lover of eagle watching.
Truly enjoyable and well done.
Excellent. I have been watching an eagle cam here in NJ and have “bonded” with the 3 eaglets from the time they hatched to watching them crash into a parent who has returned to the nest with a meal. Like Underdog we had Tiny for whom our blog group worried would not make it. But he was feisty. And there were 3 males which helped. Any way…..wonderful cinematography and commentary. Thank you!
!!Amazingly Wonderful and super informative !!