Genie_Girl: Bald Eagles

Bald eagles, native only to North America, are about 3 feet in height and have a 7-foot wingspan. Males weigh between 8 and 9 pounds and females weigh between 10 and 14 pounds. An adult bald eagles can be identified by its white head and tail, brown body, and curved yellow bill. A bald eagle’s is not actually bald, although the white feathers of the head give this appearance.

Bald eagles live near water sources where most of their prey can be found. Bald eagles prefer to feed on fish but may also eat small mammals, waterfowl, or carrion. Using keen eyesight, bald eagles can spot prey at distances up to 1 mile. They fly at speeds of 20 to 40 miles per hour and are capable of diving at speeds of 100 miles per hour. Bald eagles have also been known to swim. They swim by an overhand movement of their wings that resembles the butterfly stroke.

Bald eagles choose one mate during their entire life. Male and female bald eagles work together building a nest, incubating the eggs (the incubation period usually lasts from 30 to 45 days), and capturing food. The female eagle always feeds her young. Young eaglets stay in the nest for a period of about 3 months. The nest itself can be about 7 to 8 feet high and 9 feet in diameter. Bald eagles can live up to 30 years in the wild.

After much debate, the bald eagle was officially chosen as the national emblem in 1782. This decision, however, was met with strong opposition. Benjamin Franklin preferred the North American wild turkey, arguing that the bald eagle was “a bird of bad moral character.” On the Great Seal of the United States a bald eagle is featured holding an olive branch in one talon and thirteen arrows in the other. The Latin motto “E pluribus unum,” meaning “From many, one,” is found on either side of the eagle’s beak.

By the 1970s, the bald eagle had become nearly extinct due to hunting and exposure to chemicals. Chemicals such as DDT, deildrin, PCBs, and lead have not only killed eagles but also damaged their reproductive systems. Many initiatives have been undertaken in an effort to restore the population of the national bird. Examples include the establishment of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and the Bald Eagle Release Program at