Broedende Zeearenden Haliaeetus albicilla in Nederland in 2021

In 2021 22 pairs of White-tailed Eagles occupied a nest in or near wetlands in The Netherlands. At least 17 pairs commenced egg-laying. Eleven pairs were successful, raising a total of 15 fledglings (7x 1, 4x 2), of which eleven were colour-ringed. Four nestlings on three nests were equipped with a datalogger; one of these birds was killed by collision with a train just after fledging. New breeding sites were increasingly situated outside large nature reserves with restricted human access, with concomitant higher chances of human disturbance (recreation). Recent settlements concerned a mixture of Dutch recruits and birds from German origin. The reproduction of Dutch White-tailed Eagles allows further expansion of the breeding population in The Netherlands (since the first case of breeding, in 2006, a total of 125 nestlings have fledged). In autumn 2021 already several nest-building pairs were recorded at new localities.