A new stainless-steel bald eagle sculpture was unveiled in Micanopy, Florida, to honor local conservation efforts.
North Central Florida was crucial in saving the bald eagle from extinction when DDT pesticides decimated the population.
An egg translocation program in the 1980s successfully relocated 275 eagle eggs from Florida to repopulate other southern states.
Duke Energy Florida and the Alachua Audubon Society unveiled a stainless-steel bald eagle sculpture in Micanopy on Dec. 6, recognizing North Central Florida’s role in bringing the iconic bird back from the brink of extinction.
The monument, located at the Alachua Conservation Trust’s Marjorie A. Hoy Memorial Park at Orange Lake Overlook, features a female bald eagle, wings spread wide, perched above her nest and two eggs — a male eagle seated beside her.
University of Florida professor of environmental history and Pulitzer-prize winning author Jack Davis commissioned the sculpture. He also co-chaired the National Bird Initiative, which prompted Congress to officially designate the bald eagle the United States’ national bird in 2024.
His book “The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird,” chronicles how Americans nearly drove their national symbol to extinction twice — first, through hunting bounties and later through DDT contamination — before conservation efforts pulled the species back from fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states to over 70,000 pairs today.
Marion and Alachua counties served as a crucial breeding ground in the 1960s and 1970s when DDT pesticides nearly wiped out the eagle population nationwide. Sutton Research Center, an Oklahoma-based avian research and conservation institute, in partnership with University of Florida, spearheaded an egg translocation program in the 1980s, relocating 275 eagle eggs from Florida to repopulate several southern states which had no nesting bald eagles.
The program was a success. All the eggs that were relocated from Florida to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma survived and thrived.
Community members who attended the unveiling are passionate about protecting the environment and welcomed a monument that both honors local conservation efforts and educates future generations.
“I’m just happy for this community, that it cares about non-human things,” said Mary Santello. “The natural environment is the love of my life.”
Sandy Flory, a friend of Davis, appreciated that the statue was able to bring the community together over a shared interest. She was struck by its lifelike detail.
“It’s definitely making a statement,” she said. “I like that it’s dynamic and almost seems like it could come alive in the middle of the night.”
Loval artist John Andrews created the sculpture — he named the birds Ethel and Ethan. His other works include
