Iowa Eagle Watching: Facts, Figures, and Statistics
2022 Bald Eagle Midwinter Survey Every winter during the early part of January, Iowa participates in the national Bald Eagle Midwinter Survey. Over 1,600 miles of rivers and lakeshores are surveyed and all of the bald eagles that are seen are counted. Between 2011 and 2021, an average of 3,104 bald eagles have been counted annually during this survey. In 2022, a whopping 5,404 adult and immature eagles were counted along 1,626 miles of water! This huge number translates to about 3 eagles per mile of waterbody surveyed though that density increases to about 12 eagles per mile on the Iowa River. The other waterways with large numbers of eagles hanging around this winter were the Mississippi river with 10 eagles per mile and the Des Moines river with an average of 6 eagles per mile. While counting, surveyors distinguish between adult eagles and immature eagles and the ratio of young birds in the count is an important metric. Since 1991, the number of immatures has made up around 30% of th...
