Bald eagles at risk in Washington

The eagle population that was driven nearly to extinction has not only made a grand comeback, but seems to have forgiven mankind for decades of abuse. The bald eagle was fed to hogs in Maine, shot from airplanes in California and poisoned across the land with the pesticide DDT, which left the eggs so brittle they cracked under the mother's weight. Half a million eagles inhabited the United States when the pilgrims arrived, and 417 pairs were left in the Lower 48 when America's noble emblem made the endangered species list in 1967.

After a recovery that exceeded expectations, the eagle was taken off the list two years ago. There are about 1,500 nesting pairs in the Chesapeake Bay states alone. On any given day, protected by other federal laws, they can be seen perched in backyards along Virginia's George Washington Memorial Parkway, or gliding over a golf course in suburban Maryland.

But only two were intrepid enough to settle in the capital they have symbolized since 1782.

"Something is happening in nature out there that we can only speculate about," said Craig Koppie, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "They are becoming a little more tolerant of us."

Which explains why some environmentalists are wary of the $3.4-billion construction project planned on the abandoned grounds of St. Elizabeths Hospital, an eighth of a mile from the eagles' nest.

A mid-19th century psychiatric facility, it housed Richard Lawrence, who tried to assassinate Andrew Jackson; Ezra Pound, the World War II poet accused of treason; and John Hinckley Jr., who shot Ronald Reagan. (Hinckley remains in the scaled-down hospital across the street.)

A lot of good would come from the headquarters by the time it's finished in 2017, proponents point out: restaurants, coffee bars, thousands of much-needed jobs and a second life for a decaying landmark.

Eagle advocates concede the sheer chutzpah that brought the birds here in the first place suggests they would adapt to the added bustle. It's the destruction of habitat for the new back road they oppose. The eagles need forest to perch for hunting, and to keep a safe distance from each other should another urban pair decide to move in. Eagles already are competing fiercely for space -- sometimes to the death. A Delaware rescue facility reports more injuries from birds harmed by one other than by humans, Koppie said.