A bald eagle soars over the an estuary in the Great Bear Rainforest, BC.

Bald Eagles

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When visiting a temperate rainforest in British Columbia, look for the bald eagle, a frequent old-growth visitor.

While not bald, the name comes from an older variation of the word, meaning “white-headed.” These majestic creatures can be found searching for their next meal in salmon-spawning rivers, along the ocean shoreline, or nesting high up in the canopies of ancient giants. Bald eagles build the largest nest of any bird in North America. Their nests can reach up to 8 feet (2.5 metres) across and weigh a metric ton! Since they are territorial birds, they will typically return to that same nest year after year for up to decades.

In addition to their enormous wingspans of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.3 metres), bald eagles are known for their superpower eyesight. They have a 340-degree field of vision, can spot fish under the water’s surface, and can even see into the ultraviolet range. An eagle’s visual acuity is estimated to be 4 to 8 times greater than that of humans. This means that an eagle can see from a distance of 1.6 kilometers what a human with perfect vision can see from only 200 meters away. They also have binocular and monocular vision, allowing them to spot prey from great distances and navigate their environment with remarkable precision.

Along the Chehalis and Harrison Rivers near Agassiz, BC, in the territory of Sts’ailes First Nation, as many as 10,000 bald eagles have been known to congregate in November and December to feed on spawning salmon, making the area home to one of the largest bald eagle concentrations on Earth. It’s an incredible place to view wildlife this time of year! Nearby, at Echo Lake, one of their night-roosting sites, roughly half of the old-growth forests were protected in 2013 as a result of Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaign efforts. The rest of the forests there must now also be preserved.

How does your eyesight compare to an eagle? How many do you think are in this photo from the Harisson-Chehalis River estuary?? Find the answer at the bottom of this page.

Be sure to check out Hancock Wildlife’s live eagle cams and enjoy some of our favourite eagle photos below!

Answer: About 145 eagles can be found in the photo! Wild!

Roosevelt Elk

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Autumn is the season of romance for the magnificent Roosevelt elk of the coastal rainforest. Males “bugle” for females, and, wielding their massive antlers (which can host six or more pointed tines branching out from the main beam), contend with each other for access to mates. The Roosevelt elk is Vancouver Island’s largest and most charismatic land mammal, weighing up to 1100 lbs/500 kg! Both sexes of elk are easily distinguishable from other ungulates by a thick dark brown mane on their head and neck and beige body and rump. These large mammals are an important food source for wolves, cougars, and many First Nations people.

, Roosevelt elk spend winters browsing for woody plants such as devil’s club and elderberry along the banks of rivers in rich, valley-bottom forests. With their abundant shrubs and huge trees that block out the falling snow, old-growth forests provide Roosevelt elk with critical habitat, especially in the harsh winter months.

It is fitting that Vancouver Island’s largest land animal is drawn to the habitats that produce BC’s biggest trees: the nutrient-rich floodplains of coastal rivers. The sight of a herd of elk browsing in an old-growth riparian forest full of towering Sitka spruce and ancient moss-draped maples is the pinnacle of rainforest beauty and majesty: charismatic megafauna combined with charismatic megaflora!

With only around 3,000 Roosevelt elk on the island, they are considered a species of special concern by the province. The number one constraint on their population is the destruction of their old-growth wintering habitat, making the protection of our richest-valley bottom ancient forests an essential step in ensuring these magnificent creatures continue to roam our forests for generations to come.

 

Banana Slugs

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BC’s coastal rainforests are famously home to giant organisms. But beyond the big trees, these forests also produce giant slugs! The banana slug is the second largest slug on earth, being able to reach 9 inches (23 cm) in length. These charismatic, often bright yellow creatures are signature members of the rainforest community.

Banana slugs are enthusiastic omnivores that feed on plants, detritus, and carrion, but they seem to have a special fondness for mushrooms. Feeding is done through their specialized rasp-like tongue called a radula. This tongue is equipped with over 20,000 ‘teeth’ that the slugs use to shred their food. If mushrooms have nightmares, they’re probably of tooth-studded tongues!

Another secret to the banana slug’s success is its slime, which is hydrophilic and able to absorb 100 times its weight in water, keeping the slug moist. The slime also provides the animal with locomotion, adhesion, and protection.

The slime is neither solid nor liquid, but a strange substance known as a liquid crystal, in which the molecules are fluid but structured. The slime is, paradoxically, both an adhesive (allowing the slug to stick to things) and a lubricant, allowing the slug to slide without resistance. Thanks to slime, a slug can even travel across a razor blade without injury.

Finally, the slime provides protection, as it contains a paralytic toxin. Any human foolish to give a slug a big lick will find their tongue and lips go numb. Clever raccoons will roll the slugs in dirt in order to bind up and remove the slime before these little bandits dine on banana-escargot.

Marbled Murrelets

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For almost two hundred years, the Marbled Murrelet was one of North America’s most mysterious birds. Though western scientists first described this charming little seabird (likened to a “plump robin”) in 1790, no one was able to find the bird’s nest until 1974! Scientists put people on the moon before they finally tracked down the nest of this secretive bird. 

How did the murrelet elude researchers for so long? 

Unlike other seabirds who nest in dense colonies on islands or sea cliffs, the Marbled Murrelet nests deep in the old-growth rainforest, hiding its nest high in the mossy branches of ancient trees like towering Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, or western redcedar. The tree needs to be big enough, with enormous branches, in order for it to acquire enough epiphytic moss to provide a deep cushion for its egg. Like weathered sailors, Marbled Murrelets spend most of their time at sea, only coming onto land when it’s time to lay their single egg. They can travel a distance of up to 80 km inland from their ocean home, looking for the perfect tree. 

Since these birds only approach their nests after nightfall, for decades, scientists were unable to detect them when they left their ocean foraging grounds. Finally, the case was solved in 1974 when a tree trimmer climbing an old-growth Douglas-fir found himself staring into the eyes of a baby Marbled Murrelet, some 148 feet (45 metres) above the ground! Though the mystery of where the Marbled Murrelet nested was finally cracked, the more significant issue of saving them from extinction still needs to be solved. For every old-growth tree that falls, we lose another piece of critical nesting habitat for these endangered birds.   

Due to old-growth logging across their range, Marbled Murrelet numbers have been declining since the mid-19th century. In Canada, they have been considered threatened since 2003 and are classified as globally endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. 

If you’re lucky enough to be camping out in an old-growth forest before sunrise, you may hear the high-pitched “keer” of these little birds as they leave their nests heading out to sea. 

To learn more about the Marbled Murrelet and its future in BC, read this article from Focus on Victoria.