Their successful reintroduction was due in large part to hacking, a method adapted from falconry of gradually releasing raptors into the wild. Nestlings feed, rest and grow for about four weeks inside a semi-open enclosure that mimics a nest, placed high above a lake or river. Joe Meyers, leader of the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Athens and an adjunct faculty member in UGA's Warnell School of Forest Resources, was among the first to look at the effects of hacking on bald eagles in the southeast. He presented his research at the American Ornithologist Union meeting at Cornell University in August. Instead, Meyers and colleagues found that captive-raised birds adjusted quickly to their new freedom.
Hacking cages provide protection from predators as nestlings grow into fledglins.
To prevent them from learning to rely on humans, nestlings inside the hacking boxes never see the people behind the gloved hands that provide food and water. After release, fledglings return to the hacking towers for eight to 10 weeks, where food is left on top of the boxes. In the wild, parents feed fledglings for up to 100 days. Hacking was tried successfully in New York in 1978 and has since been used extensively in other states to restore bald and golden eagles, peregrine falcons and other raptors to their native ranges. Many eagles were shot.