DENVER — It’s no secret that the human population on Colorado’s Front Range is expanding. State officials predict that in the 10-year range from 2019 to 2029, Colorado will grow by more than 800,000 people, with about 87% of them settling in the Front Range.
More perplexing, however, is that another population is growing in that same densely populated urban corridor: bald eagles.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the whole state of Colorado had just three known bald eagle nests by the end of the 1970s. Today, the state is home to over 200 nests—some in “unconventional” locations, like the Front Range. This could explain why people who frequent Denver's City Park have become accustomed to seeing bald eagles in the area.
"We know that our population of eagles has increased in this area," said Reesa Conrey, an avian researcher with CPW. "And we know that our population of humans is also increasingly very rapidly."
Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced this week that they have embarked on a four-year study to learn why these eagles—the national bird of the United States—are settling in urban areas that are often disrupted by construction and other human activity.