The bald eagle has been the USA's national animal ever since 1782 and even appears on its seal
What do bald eagles look like?
The bald eagle is a raptor (bird of prey) with a brown body, white head and yellow eyes and beak. Despite their common name, these birds have feathered heads.
Why are they then called 'bald'?
The word ‘bald’ comes from the old English word ‘balde,’ which means white. Found in North America, these huge birds have a two-metre wingspan and are known as the USA’s national bird.
How large is its wingspan?
Bald eagles are known for their considerable wingspan, which allows them to soar through the air without using too much energy. Females tend to be larger than males. Their outstretched wings can measure around two and a half metres (eight feet) while a male’s wingspan is usually around two metres (six feet).
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What do bald eagles eat?
Bald eagles are predatory birds that mainly prey on fish but will also hunt other animals such as birds, squirrels, rabbits and other small mammals as well as scavenging carrion and stealing prey from other birds when they need to conserve energy. They were once targeted by hunters, as people believed they ate chickens and livestock, but this wasn’t true.
How do bald eagles hunt?
Bald eagles have several adaptations that make them exceptional hunters. Their keen eyesight allows them to spot a fish from a mile away before swooping in at around 100 miles an hour and grabbing them with their sharp talons.
Once they’ve killed their prey with these formidable feet, they tear into the flesh with their hooked beak and swallow it piece by piece. Any excess food is stored in a pouch below their throat, called the crop, before it is digested.
How does it nest?
Bald eagles mate for life. When a pair is ready to reproduce, they build an enormous aerie (nest) at the top of a tall tree, where the young have more protection from predators.
The female chooses which tree they will use for the nest but both parents help to build it and sit on the eggs to keep them warm. There are up to three eggs, usually two, in a clutch and they hatch after about 35 days.
How old are bald eagles when they fledge?
The young are grey when they are born – they won’t develop their signature white head until around four or five years old – and the parents look after them for the first three months until they’re ready to learn to fly and leave the nest.
It takes around six more weeks for the adult eagles to teach the young how to hunt and feed themselves. The parents often return to the same nest year after year to raise a new brood of eaglets.
Where do bald eagles live
Bald eagles are found in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and every U.S. state except Hawaii. About half of the world’s bald eagle population lives in Alaska, where they can be seen year-round.
For easy access to their preferred food source – fish – these majestic birds usually live in wooded areas close to coastlines, rivers, lakes or other bodies of water. They typically live in forests because they prefer to build their huge nests (which can be 1.5 to 2 metres wide) at the top of tall trees.
What threats does it face?
Bald eagles were nearly wiped out by hunting, habitat loss and a now-banned chemical called dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). This pesticide was washed into rivers and absorbed by the fish, which were eaten by eagles. It prevented them from creating strong eggshells so the eggs cracked during incubation. Although DDT has now been banned in the USA and bald eagle populations have recovered, they still face threats including illegal hunting, electrocution from power lines, lead poisoning, avian flu, vehicle collisions and chemical pollution.
How did it become the national emblem of America?
The bald eagle became the United States’ national symbol when it appeared on the country’s Great Seal with its wings outstretched in 1782.
Eagles have represented strength throughout history and were even used as a symbol by Roman legions. It is said that Benjamin Franklin wasn’t too keen on this choice for the Seal. He wrote a letter to his daughter calling the bald eagle “a Bird of bad moral character”, saying that “he does not get his living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.”
He added that a turkey was a much more respectable bird. Today, the bald eagle (not the turkey) is recognised around the world as the national emblem of the United States.
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus