Bartlesville Research Center, Known For Bald Eagle Work, Celebrates 30 Years

The Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Center's work with bald eagles put them on the map, but they are far from finished.

In 1985 the center took on a pretty ambitious project - reintroducing bald eagles into Oklahoma and much of the Southeastern U.S.

Executive Director Dr. Steve Sherrod said, "We were fortunate it was highly successful.”

Back in the mid-80s we had lots of bald eagles coming to and through Oklahoma, but none setting up housekeeping here nor were there any in the southeast, except for Florida.

The strategy they came up with; collect eggs in Florida and bring them here.

"We brought the original eggs back and incubated them artificially," Sherrod said.

It was about a nine-month process from eggs to eaglets ready to fly.

"Then it's another four years before you know whether they're gonna come back and breed," Sherrod said.

Eagles come back to the place where they began to fly, and it worked. We now have 120 breeding pairs returning to Oklahoma.

There has been similar success in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia. Our National bird is now off the endangered species list, largely a result of Sutton Center efforts.

Sherrod said, "I think we have a promising future as far as saving endangered species."

They've been asked to do it again, this time with Attwater's Prairie Chicken.

They have as equally ambitious a project with the prairie chickens as they did with the bald eagles and they have no reason to think this won't work just as well.

The Sutton Center has had dozens of successful programs in its 30 years.

The Center is having a big party next Friday, November 14th at Tulsa's Mayo Hotel.

You learn more information about the Sutton Center and their work online.