The Bald Eagle

The bald eagle or Haliaeetus leucocephalus, a specie of sea eagles, is the only eagle that is unique to North America. Recognized for being the national bird of the United States, it can be found today over the North American expanse from northern Mexico, to Canada and to Alaska where approximately half of the estimated total population of 70,000 live (Bald Eagle Information).

Together with the Golden eagle, the bald eagle or American bald eagle, is the largest of the eagles. It has a wingp that reaches some 79 to 89 cm. long, an average weight of around 14 pounds for males (females are slightly larger and heavier) and a strong and large hooked beak two inches long and one inch deep (Merry ¶ 1).

Classification Class: Aves (birds) Order: Falconiformes (along with falcons, hawks, old-world vultures, condors, buzzards, kites, caracars, ospreys, harriers, accipiters, secretary birds and bateleurs) Sub-family: Buteoninae (together with true buzzards, true eagles and other sea eagles) Family: Accipitridae (hawks and eagles) Genus: Haliaeetus (all sea or fish eagles) Species: leucocephalus (derived from the Latin word “leukos” that means white)

There are two sub-species of bald eagles: Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus or the traditional “southern” variety, which lives in the gulf states, south of 40 degrees north latitude and the slightly larger Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus or “northern” bald eagle, which inhabit the states north of 40 degrees north latitude across North America (Bald Eagle Information P 1-3). Living Habits Bald eagles inhabit North America because of the abundance of their diet sources. The rivers and streams in Washington, Montana and Alaska are visited by the American eagles in large numbers during the spawning seasons of salmon, shad and eulachon.

The bald eagle is primarily a scavenger bird that feeds on dead, dying or weakened fish and other prey but they have the predatory skills and equipment when needed (Merry ¶ 4-5). Based on radio telemetry, the American bald eagles have been shown to regularly roost right after dawn, alternatively glide and flap on its flight direct to their favorite feeding perch and roost back in the evening (Merry ¶ 8). Maturity, Mating and Nesting At juvenile age, the American bald eagle is a mix of brown and white feathers. They attain sexual maturity when they reach four or five years of age.

Adult eagles are covered with white head, neck and tail feathers and blackish-brown breast and back feathers (General Fact). They build their eyries or nests atop tall trees near bodies of water or coasts where they perch. Bald eagles, who mate for life or until the death of their partners, use and add sticks and leaves to the same eyrie year after year. Two to three eggs are laid every spring; the males help the females in incubating the eggs from 35 to 40 days. The eaglets, when hatched, are covered with grayish-white downy and will need to be fed by their parents until they become six eight weeks old.

At 9 to 14 weeks, they fledge and at 4 months old, the eaglets come of their own. As Endangered Specie The American bald eagle was categorized as endangered for over half a century until the United States Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded its status to ‘threatened’ in July 1995. Earlier in 1967, the specie was officially listed as an endangered species in most of the lower parts of the country because of continuing decline for several decades because of the loss of habitat, prey and the then widespread use of the pesticide DDT.

In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was passed in a bid to halt the loss of several endangered animal species and to help reverse environmental degradation. The Endangered Species Act has been shown to be at least fairly effective at preventing the extinctions of many animal species, including the bald eagle whose number increased from under 500 in 1963 to over 9,000 pairs in 2006 (Wikipedia, Endangered Species Act ¶ 19). References bald eagle. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved March 5, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9011927 Endangered Species Act. (2007, March 1).

In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:35, March 5, 2007, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Endangered_Species_Act&oldid=111852673. General Facts About Bald Eagles. American Bald Eagle Information Site. Retrieved 05 March 2007 from http://baldeagleinfo. com/eagle/eagle-facts. html. Homepage. American Bald Eagle Information Site. Retrieved 05 March 2007 from http://baldeagleinfo. com/index. html. Merry, Sondra. Species: American Bald Eagle or Haliaeetus Leucocephalus. University of Wisconcin. Retrieved 05 March 2007 from <http://richland. uwc. edu/Depts/ Biology/accounts/BALEAGL. htm>.