A pair of bald eagles in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo Credit: Len Blumin / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Florida has surpassed Minnesota as the state with the most active bald eagle nests in the lower 48. A 2011 survey counted more than 1,400 active eagle nests, a remarkable comeback since DDT decimated eagle populations just a few decades ago. “Today in Central Florida alone we have more eagles and eagle nests in that area than in the entire 48 states in 1965,” said Charles Lee, director of advocacy at 福利姬视频 of Florida, to the Winter Park / Maitland Observer. Florida’s first eagle survey in 1972-73 turned up fewer than 200 nests. Throughout the 60s and 70s high levels of the harmful pesticide DDT were flowing in the nation’s waterways. The chemical worked its way up the food chain, accumulating in eagles and other fish-eating birds of prey. DDT disrupts birds’ ability to produce strong egg shells, causing them to crack easily and subsequently kill the developing embryos. The...