Lake Oroville Eagles Find New Home Following Spillway Crisis

The family of eagles have built a new nest about a hundred feet away, and have even fledged two eaglets

When the Oroville Dam spillway collapsed in February of 2017, officials had to rush to move electric towers that were at risk of being taken out by the overflowing water. After finding a temporary solution, officials looked for a new permanent route to send electrical wires in the area.

The problem? They had to displace a family of bald eagles in the process.



Although bald eagles were once on the federal endangered species list, they have since been taken off that list in a resurgence of the species over the past two decades. That being said, the national bird still garners a lot of attention.

Ken James/California Department of Water Resources

That’s why it was difficult for DWR officials to remove this eagle family’s 1,000 pound nest in order to reroute electrical wires following the crisis. Now, the family of eagles have built a new nest about a hundred feet away, and have even fledged two eaglets.

In order to help the eagles settle into a new home, DWR officials built an artificial nest made of steel fencing. It turned out, the eagles like to live in homes they build themselves. So a brand new nest was built by the birds in the same area.



Today, the eaglets are about 7 weeks old and will likely take their first flight soon. DWR has compiled guidelines for viewing the precious nest, and will limit access to the area during breeding season.

The bald eagle is a majestic creature, able to capture the spirit of freedom in every American. We are glad that officials are taking precautions to make sure they flourish, even in crisis situations.

And we may even get to see sights like this on our beautiful reservoirs:

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button