Record number of bald eagles found in Lake Tahoe's annual count

The team found a total of 42 bald eagles for 2021, breaking the previous record count of 27 from 2017, according to a post by TINS on Take Care Tahoe. The institute credited the iconic birds' recovery in the area to the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

"In addition to record numbers of eagles counted, TINS had over 200 volunteers sign up to help count this year," the post reads. "Tahoe Institute for Natural Science would love to give a big THANK YOU to all of the volunteers for making this year’s Bald Eagle Count a success; this event would not be possible without you!"

Part of the reason TINS believes this annual count is its most accurate to date is due to the number of volunteers that turned up to help, which TINS said doubled this year compared with previous years.

The Lake Tahoe annual count first began in 1979, when only two eagles were found. "In a lot of ways, this count monitors the success of the protections that we have put in place for these eagles,” Will Richardson, TINS co-founder and executive director, is quoted in the post. "And it's a lot of fun!"

The total counts for the past few years are below:

2021: 42 bald eagles spotted: 30 adults and 12 immature birds.
2020: 24 bald eagles spotted: 17 adults and 7 immature birds.
2019: 19 bald eagles spotted: 13 adults and 6 immature birds.
2018: 22 bald eagles spotted: 16 adults and 6 immature birds.
2017: 27 bald eagles spotted: 23 adults, 2 immature birds, and 2 of unknown age.