First white-tailed eagle born in Waterford since 1870

For the first time in over 150 years, a white-tailed eagle has been born in Waterford. 

The eagle was believed to have been last seen in the Déise around 1870. 

The apex predator species nearly went into extinction a century ago due to human activity. 

NPWS

The chick was born thanks to the conservation work of the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) who began their White-Tailed Eagle Reintroduction Programme in 2007.

After 18 years, the project has ended with the successful release of four white-tailed eagle chicks back into the wild at Killarney National Park.

In September, Project Manager Eamon Meskell told RTÉ that a white-tailed eagle was possible last seen in Waterford in 1870. 

He said: "Generally, the eagles' migration has been north and west. So to see a pair migrate to Waterford proves that the project is working."

First of its kind

Mr Meskell noted that the chick is the first of the project born east of the River Shannon. The parents of the chick, K and L, are raising their young on the River Blackwater near Youghal, Co Cork, close to the Waterford border. 

According to Mr Meskell: "They fly around the country. I suppose they're putting an aerial map into their brain to see what the country is like, where the territorial areas suitable to them would be. I suppose this pair, specifically, would have come from a release cage in the southeast of the country.

"So they wouldn't have drifted east from the cages that we had already, but they'd have come from a cage that was on the Blackwater river."

There are approximately 75 white-tailed eagles now living in the wild. 

Mr Meskill said the Waterford birth "gives confidence that the whole project is sustainable and working".

"It is so satisfying to see."