Facts about Bald Eagle

American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus)

Bald eagles mate for life and build large nests that are used year after year. Often the annual nest-preparation includes additional construction increasing the size of an already large nest. In time some nests have been known to reach 10 feet in diameter.

Female eagles lay two or three eggs each year which hatch after an incubation period of about 35 days. Within about three months the young eaglets are capable of flight and quickly learn to hunt and fend for themselves. The white crown that makes the bald eagle so quickly recognizable, along with its white tail feathers, do not appear until the eagles reach 4 or 5 years of age. Bald eagles normally live up to a thirty year time span.

Bald eagles are protected under the National Emblem Act of 1940, also known as the Bald Eagle Protection Act. They were further protected under the Endangered Species Act, and stiff penalties are imposed for killing, harassing, possessing or selling bald eagles. Special permits are issued to zoos and other institutions that protect and breed the magnificent birds in captivity.

Fast Facts:

• Common Name: bald eagle
• Classification : Class Aves , Order Falconiformes , Family Accipitridae

Genus species: Haliaeetus (sea eagle) leucocephalus (white head)

• Size: 1 m (3 ft.) in height; 2.3 m (7 ft.) wing span
• Weight: males 3.5 to 4 kg (8-9 lb.), females 4.5 to 6 kg (10-14 lb.)
• Description: Adults at 4 to 5 yrs. are identified by their white head and tail, solid brown body, and large, curved, yellow bill. Juveniles have blotchy patches of white on their underside and tail.
• Life span: up to 30 years in the wild, longer in captivity
• Sexual maturity: 4 to 5 years of age
• Incubation: 31 to 45 days
• Habitat: live and nest near coastlines, rivers, lakes, wet prairies, and coastal pine lands in North America from Alaska and Canada south into Florida and Baja, California.
• Diet: prefer fish swimming close to the water's surface, small mammals, waterfowl, wading birds, dead animal matter (carrion).
• Status: listed by USFWS as threatened in all but three of the lower 48 states and protected by CITES; populations are healthy in Alaska.

Fun Facts

• The bald eagle is not really bald; it actually has white feathers on its head, neck, and tail. Bald is a derivation of balde, an Old English word meaning white. The eagle was named for its white feathers instead for a lack of feathers.The bald eagle is not really bald; it actually has white feathers on its head, neck, and tail.
• Bald eagles may use the same nest year after year, adding more twigs and branches each time. One nest was found that had been used for 34 years and weighed over two tons!
• The bald eagle can fly 20 to 40 mph in normal flight and can dive at speeds over 100 mph.
• Bald eagles can actually swim! They use an overhand movement of the wings that is very much like the butterfly stroke.
• More than 80% of the bald eagle population in the southeastern United States is concentrated within the state of Florida.

Ecology and Conservation

Bald eagles are a very important part of the environment. By eating dead animal matter, they help with nature's clean-up process. Bald eagles are also hunters, so they keep animal populations strong. They do this by killing weak, old, and slower animals, leaving only the healthiest to survive.

For years the bald eagle was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Now the number of bald eagles has increased so much that in June, 1994 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that they be downgraded from endangered status to the less urgent status of threatened in all but three of the lower 48 states. The success of the bald eagle is a tribute to the Endangered Species Act and is an incentive for increased awareness and conservation everywhere.