Facts About the Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is the national bird and symbol of the United States. This large bird of prey was once considered to be an endangered species. According to Wikipedia, the animal went from being on the endangered list to being on the threatened list in 1995, and was removed from that list in 2007. Now, the Bald Eagle once again has a stable population.

Although the Bald Eagle is no longer on the endangered or threatened species list, this bird is still highly protected and respected in the United States. If a person purposely shoots or harms the Bald Eagle, they may face federal charges and can potentially go to prison for several years.

The Bald Eagle has an even brown-colored plumage and a white head and tail. The tail itself is somewhat long and has a wedge shape to it. Both the male and the female Bald Eagle are identical in color. The way to distinguish between the two comes in their size; the female is up to 25% larger than the male.

The beak and eye-color of the Bald Eagle is bright yellow. They have no feathers on their legs. The toes of the Bald Eagle are short, but they have large and powerful talons. This talon is used to pierce the vital areas on the bodies of their prey, and the front, short toes are used to hold they prey still. The beak is large and hooked and has a yellow color to it.

Until the Bald Eagle reached the age of sexual maturity around five years old, its plumage is brown colored with white speckles in it. The immature Bald Eagle resembles a Golden Eagle, but is distinguishable by the shape of its head, size of its beak, and positioning of its wings. The Golden Eagle's head is more protruding and has a larger beak, and its wings have straighter edges and a stiffer beat of its wings. Another distinguishing mark is that the immature Bald Eagle has more feathers in its upper wing area.

The body of the Bald Eagle ranges from 28 to 42 inches in length. The adult male wingspan can be up to 69 inches and the adult female wingspan can be up to 96 inches. The adult female also out-weighs the adult male. The Adult female can weigh over 12 pounds and the adult male can weigh up to 9 pounds. The overall size of the Bald Eagle varies by its location. The smallest of the species are known to live in the Florida area while the largest are known to live in Alaska.

The Bald Eagle prefers to live in areas where there is a large, open body of water that has a lot of food for them to prey upon. Areas that they have been known to live include seacoasts, large lakes, and rivers. According to wikipedia, in an area where the body of water has a circumference greater than 7 miles, and lakes that have an area more than 3.8 square miles, Bald Eagles breed the most.

When it comes to building a nest, the Bald Eagles look for coniferous or hardwood trees that have old growth. They choose trees that have open areas and are close to areas of a lot of prey. The height of the tree seems to be of little importance in comparison to having other trees of larger sizes that surround the body of water. Areas where there is no less than 20% and no more than 60% tree coverage around the body of water are places where Bald Eagles are likely to build their nests. The Bald Eagles also tend to be found in areas where there is little to no human activity.

The Bald Eagle can reach speeds of up to 44 miles per hour when flying and up to speeds of 30 miles per hour when it is carrying a fish. When it dives, it can dive at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.

The Bald Eagle is likely to stay in one area year round, unless the body of water freezes. If this happens, the Bald Eagle cannot catch its prey, because it feeds mostly on fish; and will move south or towards the coast. If the bird does migrate, it generally does so in the day time when it is warmer.

When a Bald Eagle reaches the age of sexual maturity, it will commonly return to the area where they were born. The Bald Eagle will find a mate for life, but if one of the pair dies, the survivor will find a new mate. If a pair of Bald Eagles has tried to reproduce and has several failed attempts, they may split up and find new mates to reproduce with. Courtship involves elaborate calls and stunning flight displays. They will swoop, chase, and do cartwheels in the air. They lock their talons together, free fall, and separate just before hitting the ground.

Once they have found a mate and begin to build a nest, they build the biggest nest of any bird that is found in all of North America. The same nest is used over a period of many years. Each year, new nesting material is added, and any flaws fixed. Over time, the nest can be as big as 13 feet deep, 8 feet across, and weigh approximately one ton. According to Wikipedia, one nest that was found in Florida was 20 feet deep, 9.5 feet across, and weighed 3 tons. The nest is normally built out of branches in the large trees near water. If the Bald Eagle is breeding and can find no trees, they will nest on the ground. These Eagles generally produce anywhere between one and three eggs each year. When there are three, it is very rare for all three chicks to fly. Both the male and female Bald Eagles take turns sitting on the eggs. While one is sitting on the eggs, the other will hunt food and look for materials for the nest. After approximately 35 days of incubation, the eggs will hatch. At that time, the parents will take care of the chicks until they reach four weeks in age. After that, the chicks learn how to fly and hunt for themselves.

When still a chick, the Bald Eagle is in danger from other animals such as the Black-Billed Magpie, gulls, ravens, crows, black bears, and raccoons, but as an adult, the Bald Eagle's biggest threat is a human. When the Bald Eagle is still very young, the adults will protect it very fiercely against any animal that stands to harm it. Once and adult, the danger from other animals disappears.

The Bald Eagle is a large and powerful bird of prey. The qualities that it possesses, such as hard-working and ever protective of its young are the reasons it was chosen as the national bird of the United States. Today, you can see the picture of the Bald Eagle on a number of things. It is even a part of the Seal of the President of the United States. Most commonly, we can see this beautiful bird's picture every day on the money we spend.