Signs of hope that Pittsburgh’s Hays bald eagles could rebuild nest

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – All eyes are on Pittsburgh’s iconic Hays bald eagles, and anxiety is high as their biggest fans wait to see if the majestic pair rebuilds their nest that collapsed during a storm last year.

The Hays eagles usually welcome new eggs in their nest in mid-February. Many people are wondering if they will reconstruct their nest in time for the upcoming breeding season. 

But with time running out for the birds, the experts are seeing new signs of hope.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of activity with the pair on the hillside within the last couple of weeks, which is a really good sign that there could be potential nesting,” said Bill Powers, president and owner of PixCams Inc. 

The eagles have been seen chasing away intruders on the live-streamed nest camera that’s provided by PixCams and the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

A few days ago, the eagle pair was seen on camera chasing a young eagle perched on their tree. 

“Typically, they wouldn’t have this territorial behavior unless they were thinking about nesting because they wouldn’t put that energy into protecting that site from potential fishing or other birds being in that area,” Powers said. 

He said they’re even listening for the majestic birds with a new tool called BirdNET-Pi, which allows them to pick up eagle call detections.

“It lets us actually look at the audio signals and identify what the species are. We’re getting ticks of the eagles’ chatter that we can’t actually see on the camera, which really helps us to know that they’re there,” Powers said.

He said the tool has recorded bald eagles making noise in the evening.

“We’re seeing these nighttime calls, which are a really good sign because we’re seeing the eagles are actually roosting near where this nest tree is and they’re roosting in a pair. So, that shows us there was this pair bonding is actually starting,” said Powers. 

Bald eagles have been nesting in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood since 2013, with 20 eaglets taking flight.

It’s the fifth time the birds have had to build a new nest. Rachel Handel with the Audubon Society said they have faith in them.

“When the nest fell back in 2016, they rebuilt in three days. So, they have a history of being able to pull together a nest very quickly if they need to. We could really be seeing something pretty exciting happening very soon. Generally, these birds lay eggs in mid-February,” Handel said. 

“We’re going to be looking for mating. We’re going to be looking for bonding rituals. And one of those rituals is nest building,” she added. 

The hope is that the beloved eagles don’t soar in another director. 

“Our hope is that if they don’t build in that tree, they’ll at least be close,” Handel said.

No matter what happens, it’s too late to move the PixCam camera from its current location. 

“We’re just hopeful it’s going to be in the tree or where we can see it. And if not, we move it next year to where the new location would be,” Powers said.