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You may have noticed more bald eagles flying around Minnesota bringing food back to their nests, because now is the time when they have eaglets to feed. 


This week, National Park Service researchers are climbing up to those massive nests to test this year's spring chicks for chemicals found in the environment.


Bill Route, leader of the project, talked with MPR News' Tom Crann from Pig's Eye Lake along the Mississippi River in St. Paul where he and his team are collecting samples.

Scientists survey eagles for contaminants this week

Researchers give baby eagles a spring checkup

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MPR News Staff

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The eagle survey, which began in 2006, enlists professional tree climbers who reach the nests with cameras on their helmets. The tree climber then puts an eaglet in a sack, brings it down to the scientists for blood and feather samples, and then returns it.

Researcher Bill Route on how to give a spring checkup to a baby eagle

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