It was 6:30 a.m. on a frigid January morning when Ashley Kijowski came face to face with a bald eagle. She had just started as a coordinator at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Wildlife Education Center and decided to experiment with her new camera on an early hike.

When she spotted the eagle – perched low on a branch, framed against the pale dawn sky – she quietly raised her camera, heart hammering. Then she realized she had forgotten to load an SD card.

“It’s never happened since,” Kijowski said, laughing. “I’ve never again had one sitting there, perfectly posed, right in front of me.”

That moment captures the fascination many Utahns feel for these birds. The bald eagle is more than America’s national symbol. It is a story of survival: a species that clawed its way back from near extinction to become an emblem of resilience. Each year, Utah becomes part of that story as bald eagles migrate south, following open water and the promise of fish. Utah’s mix of shallow reservoirs, slow-moving rivers and winter tailwaters keeps fish accessible even when surrounding waters freeze.

Around 500 bald eagles typically spend the winter in Utah, congregating near reservoirs, rivers and wetlands. Fewer than 10 nesting pairs remain in the state year-round to breed. While winter numbers remain strong, the breeding population is limited by habitat availability and sensitivity to disturbance near nesting sites.

On frosty February days, visitors bundle up and gather at places like Farmington Bay to watch eagles glide over the marsh. Even in landscapes dotted with only a few scraggly trees, the birds seem to pick the same roosts year after year. Bald eagles favor tall, open-limbed trees near water that offer clear sightlines and minimal disturbance, often returning to the same roosts each season. Locals call them “eagle trees,” and once you spot a dozen hulking shapes perched shoulder to shoulder in bare branches, you understand why.

In Fountain Green, the famous eagle tree does not even have a sign, just a set of GPS coordinates and a dirt pull-off along a quiet highway. But anyone who makes the drive is almost guaranteed a sighting. Some mornings, more than 25 eagles crowd the branches, their white heads bright against dark limbs.

For years, renowned birder Merrill Webb led vanloads of hopeful birders to Fountain Green. Webb fell in love with birding at age 14, when he unwrapped his first pair of binoculars. Decades later, he had logged sightings of more than 2,300 bird species and briefly held Utah’s record for most species seen in a single day.

His bald eagle trips began in the Bean Museum parking lot, where participants piled into a 16-passenger van for the hour-long drive south. Along the way, Webb handed out flyers detailing bald eagle habits and fielded questions as strangers bonded over their “life lists,” the running tally of every species they had spotted.

When the van finally rumbled onto the shoulder near the eagle tree, travelers stepped out to see a line of bundled figures with binoculars pressed to their eyes or peering through scopes mounted on tripods. Wildlife managers encourage viewers to keep their distance, noting that repeated disturbance at roosts can cause eagles to abandon favored sites.

For Webb, the thrill never faded.

“When they come in, they’re calling to each other – this really high-pitched call,” Webb said. “It’s not at all what you expect. You expect something really big and masculine, you know? And instead, it’s just this high-pitched chirping.”

Even that thin, surprising call has the power to hush a crowd of bundled birders, all of them staring into bare branches, hoping for one more glimpse of America’s greatest comeback story.

 

Where to See Bald Eagles

Bald eagles typically arrive in Utah by late November, peak in January and February, and begin dispersing north again by early March. They gather near lakes and rivers where fishing is good and favored roost trees stand nearby.

Reliable viewing spots include Farmington Bay, Fountain Green, Ouray National Wildlife Refuge and Strawberry Reservoir.

For directions and details about eagle-watching events, visit wildlife.utah.gov.