Be a Community Scientist and join us on Saturday January 10th for the 2026 Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey! To participate, all you have to do is grab your binoculars or scope, head out to a designated viewing site, and try to spot a Bald Eagle. SIGN UP HERE

Participants of this survey may attend the North Fork Bald Eagle Presentation in advance of the survey to learn the status of the bald eagle population, how to view eagles (etiquette and guidelines), how to identify eagles, and how to protect them.

If you cannot observe eagles this particular weekend, you can still participate! If you have seen or see a Bald Eagle on the North Fork during the national survey period of January 1st - January 15th, you can report your sighting via eBird or our eagle sighting page.

If you are using eBird, please share your checklist with Turtleback’s North Fork Bald Eagle Survey eBird account by sharing with the username “NOFO_BAEA.” If you are sharing a potential nesting site, please do not make this information public and share the sighting instead to the Google Form.

After verifying, we report potential nesting sites directly to the DEC for protection. Please keep in mind that Bald Eagles are highly sensitive to human activity, especially when establishing a territory, building a nest, or incubating eggs. Disruptions during these critical nesting stages usually lead to nest abandonment or nest failure.

We thank you for your important contributions to help protect the growing Bald Eagle population on the North Fork through this community science initiative.

We would appreciate the following information about your sighting:

• Date

• Time

• Location

• Direction the eagle was flying

• Number of Bald Eagles spotted

• Behavior (i.e., carrying nesting material, flying with another eagle, etc.)

• Approximate age of the eagles (i.e., adult Bald Eagle with white head and tail, subadult or immature, juvenile) See Bald Eagle Identification on the Google Form.