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Outdoor Radio: The 'Rank Coward'

Bald eagle nests can be six to ten feet across and weight several hundred pounds.
Kent McFarland, courtesy
/
Vermont Center For Ecostudies
Bald eagle nests can be six-to-10 feet across and weigh several hundred pounds.

We are awed by the size, beauty and power of the bald eagle but Ben Franklin described it as a bird of "bad moral character. He doesn't get his living honestly and besides, he is a rank coward."

The bald eagle won this reputation because it is expert at scavenging and stealing food from others.  But we don't hold it against them. It's always a treat to spot one of these majestic birds. Wildlife biologist John Buck, of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, joins Sara Zahendra and Kent McFarland for this edition of Outdoor Radio for a conversation about the personality, nesting habits and status of bald eagles in Vermont.

Learn more about bald eagles in Vermont:

Outdoor Radio is produced in collaboration with the Vermont Center For Ecostudies with support from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.

Correction 10:09 a.m. 4/19/2018 A previous version of this most misidentified the name of Buck's department as "Vermont Fish and Game." It has been corrected to "Vermont Fish and Wildlife."

Chris was Vermont Public Radio Audio Engineer for more than 20 years. In addition to his work for VPR, he has supervised the sound for television documentaries for the Discovery Channel, Turner Broadcast, and the Arts and Entertainment Network. Chris retired in December, 2020.
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