POSTFLEDGING NEST DEPENDENCE PERIOD FOR BALD EAGLES IN FLORIDA

We studied the postfledging dependency period in bald eagles (Haliaeet us leucocephalus), a little studied but important period in the life c ycle of avian species. Bald eagles in Florida had a postfledging depen dency period of 4-11 weeks (15-22 weeks old). The length of the depend ency period did not vary by year of study, sex, number of hedging, tim ing of hedging, or hatch order (P > 0.05). Mean distance fledglings ra nged from the nest increased with age, but they were observed in the n est or nest tree throughout the postfledging dependency period. Distan ce from the nest did not vary by sex, number of fledglings, or timing of fledging (P > 0.05). Over 80% of the fledgling observations were wi thin 229 m of the nest. The boundary of the primary protection zone sp ecified in the bald eagle habitat management guidelines for the southe astern United States is 229 m. Restrictions on human disturbance aroun d nest sites should remain in place during the postfledging dependency period because of the close association of fledglings with the nest s ite. Restrictions also should be flexible because of the varying lengt h of the dependency period.