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Raptor experts in Arizona have closed bald eagle nesting areas to the public as the birds begin to mate. Researchers are working to increase the number of eagles in the state.

Arizona is home to 111 bald eagle nesting areas. The raptors tend to nest, forage and roost near rivers and lakes that are also popular recreation spots.

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Game and Fish Raptor Management Coordinator Kenneth Jacobson said about 20 of them are vulnerable to human interaction.

"And so those are the ones," said Jacobson, "that we put these closures in place to help guide recreation in a manner that we don't have those negative impacts."

As a desert state, Arizona has a relatively small bald eagle population, yet despite drought and higher average temperatures, the state continues to expand its bald eagle population.

When it started tracking them in the 1970's, Arizona had only four known bald eagle territories, and Jacobson said conservation efforts have helped grow that number.

Jacobson said among a handful of vulnerable areas – one near a lake popular for recreation – bald eagles are highly vulnerable to the effects of human interaction, but continue to thrive.

"There at Saguaro Lake, that's one of the sites that eagles were first documented as nesting in the desert back in the 1930's," said Jacobson. "With the population growth that we see now, that same lake is now home to 4 different bald eagle breeding pairs."

Game and Fish reported that 83 new eagles hatched in 2025. Seventy-one took flight, which game officials say is their first milestone.