Worcester, MASS. -  A pair of unlikely new neighbors in a busy Worcester neighborhood is stirring up surprise.  

“You can hear them before you even see them, you know they’re big,” Worcester resident Mark Tomasko said. “Usually you have to get into the woods to see them, kayaking or something somewhere, but right here in the middle of the city was very surprising.”

There's no traveling needed as now you can drive down Park Ave. or walk along Institute Park for a chance to see a pair of bald eagles.

“It would have been shocking 10 years ago, I’ll say today, its still surprising,” Mass Wildlife ornithologist Andrew Vitz said. 

Vitz said these birds have been in the area for about a year now and even though it’s still rare, urban nesting is becoming more common as eagles adapt to new environments.

“People never used to see them in places like the center of Worcester, but that’s changing,” Vitz said. “Wherever there is a water body and some larger trees to provide potential nesting habitat, it’s potential eagle habitat.”

However, settling in busy, high traffic areas carry added challenges and hazards for eagles.

“There’s lots of activity in terms of vehicles. Vehicle collision is one of the primary known type of mortality that eagles come by each year so that’s a hazard for them,” Vitz said. “Just having buildings around is a hazard for them. Birds and raptors can regularly fly into buildings and windows.”

Eagles are also very sensitive to human disturbance, so Vitz said if you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse, do so from a safe distance.

“We don’t want people getting too close. Use the bird’s behavior more than anything to determine disturbance,” he said. “ If they are looking around, fidgeting, or flying away you’re too close.”

Mass Wildlife is following roughly 100 nesting eagle pairs across Massachusetts and said this is one of only two pairs in the Worcester area.