KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center isn’t just a space mecca. Since it shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, it’s also an animal haven and a destination for nature lovers. So when a well-known pair of American bald eagles moved nests, people took notice.
NASA said the eagles have nestled into a new home in a tree along Kennedy Parkway, not far from the old nest and the Vehicle Assembly Building. The nest also is closer to the road, which means more people will be able to see the birds in their habitat.
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The original nest has been used by a bald eagle pair almost every year since 1975. But storms and pine bark beetles killed the original tree years ago, and storms caused part of the nest to collapse in 2021.
The eagle pair that inhabited that nest had been seen moving to a new tree within 100 yards of the old nest, and recently during a helicopter flight, one of the eagles was seen sitting in the new nest. Another flight is scheduled this month to determine if the eagles are incubating eggs.
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Since eagles have an average lifespan of 20 to 25 years, and the original nest was 50 years old, the pair can’t be the same eagles who first came to the nest in the 70s, but scientists believe they could be from the same family.
There are around 39 eagle territories at Kennedy Space Center, with 33 that are active or potentially active.
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