🐾 Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
• Family & relatives: A large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae; it is a sea eagle, closely related to the white-tailed eagle and other fish-eating eagles.
• How to spot it: A big brown eagle with a snowy-white head and tail, a bright yellow hooked beak, and strong yellow feet.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Body about 70 to 100 cm long, with a wingspan of roughly 1.8 to 2.3 m.
• Weight: About 3 to 6.3 kg (7 to 14 lb); females are larger than males.
• Body & adaptations: Its hooked beak and sharp curved talons are built for gripping fish, and its broad wings let it soar for hours.
• Top speed: It cruises at around 50 km/h and can dive toward the water at over 160 km/h (100 mph).
• Strength: Its powerful grip can carry off fish weighing several kilograms, lifted straight from the water.
• Senses: It has extraordinary eyesight, several times sharper than a human's, letting it spot a fish from high in the sky.
• Growing up: Chicks hatch covered in gray down, grow brown feathers first, and only gain the white head and tail at about five years old.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Lakes, rivers, coasts, and wetlands with tall trees for nesting and plenty of open water for fishing.
• Where in the world: Across North America, from Alaska and Canada down through the United States to northern Mexico.
• Territory: A pair defends the area around its nest and favorite fishing spots, often returning to the same territory year after year.

What it eats

• Diet: A carnivore that eats mostly fish, drinking water when it needs to and often finding food along the shore.
• Favorite foods: Mainly fish, plus waterbirds, small mammals, and food it scavenges when hunting is hard.
• How it hunts: It watches from a high perch or soars overhead, then swoops down to snatch a fish from near the surface with its talons.

How it behaves

• How it moves: It flies and soars on rising air currents, using its huge wings to glide long distances with little effort.
• When it is active: Active by day, hunting mostly in the morning and resting on high perches during the rest of the day.
• Family life: Usually seen alone or in pairs, but many may gather where fish are plentiful; a group is called a convocation.
• How it talks: It calls with high, chirping whistles and uses wing and body postures to signal to its mate and rivals.
• Babies: A pair mates for life and builds a giant stick nest, where the female usually lays two eggs that both parents care for.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: A top predator that helps keep fish and waterbird populations healthy; adults have almost no natural enemies.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN after a strong recovery from the days when the pesticide DDT nearly wiped it out.
• Dangers: Most young do not survive their first year; dangers include storms, collisions, and poisoning from lead.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Around 20 years in the wild and up to about 30 years or more in captivity.
• In our culture: The national bird and emblem of the United States, a worldwide symbol of freedom and strength.
• Where to see it: Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Mississippi River, and many U.S. lakes and coasts, especially in winter.
• Fun fact: A Bald Eagle's nest can be reused and added to for years until it grows into one of the largest nests of any bird.