Eagles at Cleveland airport draw attention of officials

Eagles at Cleveland airport draw attention of officials

AKRON, Ohio (AP) A booming population of bald eagles, once nearly extinct in Ohio, has caught the attention of officials at the Cleveland airport.

Four birds have been spotted at Cleveland Hopkins Airport 18 times since December, including one juvenile eagle seen flying down the center stripe of one of the runways.

The two adult and two juvenile birds don't appear bothered by incoming and outgoing jets, and have been seen in trees at the end of runways in the path of planes, said Damon Greer of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Two eagles have also taken up residence in southern Summit County about three miles from the Akron Canton Airport along a common flight path for commercial jets.

The dangers birds can pose to planes hit home in January when a US Airways jetliner ditched in www.artisanat-frison.com New York's Hudson River after colliding with Canada geese.

Eagles weigh 10 to 14 pounds with wingspans up to seven feet. A Canada goose has a wingspan of six feet and generally weighs about 10 pounds.

Officials at Hopkins have been working with wildlife biologists to harass the eagles without injuring them, said airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo.

Airport crews have used vehicles with flashing lights and sirens to scare www.tanc.fr the eagles off airport grounds, and the birds are being closely monitored.

There is no evidence of an eagle's nest on airport grounds or in the adjoining Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Reservation. Greer said several nests found near the airport are being used by large hawks.

There have been 145 collisions between bald eagles and planes from 1990 through 2007 in the United States and Canada, according to data from the www.fedoudoune.com Federal Aviation Administration. Alaska led with 45 collisions; Ohio had none.

Ohio confirmed 26 new eagle nests this year, boosting the statewide total to 210 and providing the potential for a www.capdoudounes.com record number of eaglets, said Andrea Tibbels of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.