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Bald eagle

The bald eagle (Latin name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a bird of prey that lives in North America. It is the national bird of the United States of America. The bald eagle is a kind of sea eagle.

Bald eagle
Bald eagle about to fly in Alaska (2016).jpg
Bald eagle preparing to fly at Kachemak Bay, Alaska, United States
A recording of a bald eagle at Yellowstone National Park
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Class:
Aves
Order:
Accipitriformes
Family:
Accipitridae
Genus:
Haliaeetus
Binomial name
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Linnaeus, 1766
Distribution H. leucocephalus.png
Bald eagle range

     Breeding      Breeding, eagles during summer only      Eagles during winter      On migration only

Star: Single eagles spotted

It can be found in most of Canada, all of the United States, and the northern part of Mexico. It lives near big areas of water, where there are trees to nest in and there is a lot of food to eat. It is called bald because of its white head and neck. (There is more information on the bald eagle's name in the section below called "Name.")

The species almost died in the United States (while its numbers were growing in Alaska and Canada) late in the 20th century. Now it has a more stable population.

Description

The bald eagle is a large bird. It is usually as tall as 70 to 102 centimetres (28 to 40 in) and its wingspan is 2.44 metres (96 in). Female eagles are about 25 percent larger than males.[2][3] Adult females weigh 5.8 kilograms (13 lb), while males weigh 4.1 kilograms (9.0 lb).[4] The adult bald eagle has a brown body, and its head and tail are white. It also has yellow feet with large talons, and a hooked yellow beak. The males and the females' wings have the same colors.

Before bald eagles become adults, their wings are brown. Their wings are usually speckled with white dots until the fifth year.[2][5] The size of the bird depends on where it lives. The smallest birds are in Florida, where an adult male is only about 2.3 kilograms (5.1 lb). The largest Bald Eagles are in Alaska, where large females may be as much as 7.5 kilograms (17 lb).[6]

The bald eagle is closely related to a species called the golden eagle. The bald eagle is physically and mentally different from the golden eagle. The bald eagle has a bigger head and a bigger beak, and its legs do not have feathers.[5][7]

 
Young Bald Eagle on sand

When bald eagles "call," (make sounds), they chirp weakly and whistle. The young birds whistle more shrilly than adults.[7]

Bald eagles usually live for around 20 years if they live in nature. The oldest ones sometimes live for 30 years. When bald eagles live in captivity, such as in zoos, they can live much longer.[8]

Name

 
A Bald Eagle flying, in Alaska

This sea eagle gets both its common and scientific names from its head. Bald in the English name is from the word piebald, which means, "one with a white head".[9] The scientific name is from Haliaeetus, which is Latin for "sea eagle".[10][11]

The bald eagle was one of the many species written in Carolus Linnaeus's 18th century book Systema Naturae.[12] Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who made the binomial nomenclature system.

There are two main subspecies of the bald eagle:[2][13]

  • H. l. leucocephalus (named by Linnaeus, 1766) is one of the subspecies. It is found in the southern United States and Baja California.[14][15]
  • H. l. washingtoniensis (named by Audubon, 1827) is the northern subspecies. It is larger than the southern kind, leucocephalus. It is found in the northern United States, Canada, and Alaska.[2][14] The bald eagle looks a lot like the Eurasian white-tailed eagle. These species both have white heads of the same size, although the white-tailed eagle has a more pale feather color. The pair probably parted into two at the North Pacific.[16] The white-tailed eagle is in Eurasia, and the bald eagle is in North America.[17] The bald eagle has a name because it can reach speeds to (30)mph.

Habitat

 
Bald eagle with a salmon

The bald eagle's natural home is in most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the United States, and northern Mexico.[18]

The most bald eagles live near seas, rivers, large lakes, oceans, and other large places with open water and a lot of fish.[19]

Bald eagles need old trees with hard wood to live, sleep, and make nests. They like trees that have holes and are safe from predators. However, the height or kind of tree is not as important as its distance from a body of water.[19] Bald eagles need to live near water.

The bald eagle does not like to be near humans. It is are found mostly in places where there are no humans, or very few of them. However, a few bald eagles live in places with trees inside of big cities. They may live in city parks. Bald eagles live in a city in Oregon.[20] A family of bald eagles recently moved into Harlem, which is a place in the middle of New York city.[21]

Behavior

 
Eating whale carrion

The bald eagle flies very fast. It can move at speeds of 56–70 kilometers per hour (35–43 mph) when gliding or flapping its wings. However, when it is carrying fish, it flies about 48 km/h (30 mph).[22] Its dive speed is 120–160 kilometers per hour (75–99 mph), though it does not dive a lot.[23] The bald eagle is usually migratory, which means that it travels (migrates) between homes which are very far away from each other. In some places, bald eagles are not migratory. If a bald eagle's territory has water near by, it will remain there all year. But if the water where it lives freezes in the winter, it must migrate to the south or to the coast to find something to eat.

Diet

The bald eagle eats mostly fish. In the Pacific Northwest, spawning trout and salmon are the main food of the Bald Eagle.[24]

Sometimes, eagles may eat a lot of carrion, especially in winter. They will also scavenge dead bodies up to the size of whales. However, eagles eat more large dead fish than whales. They also sometimes eat the leftover food from campsites or garbage dumps. The mammals they eat include rabbits, hares, raccoons, muskrats, beavers, and deer fawns. Some of the birds they eat include grebes, ducks, gulls, and geese. Reptiles, amphibians and crustaceans (especially crabs) are also eaten.

To hunt fish the eagle swoops down over the water and snatches the fish out of the water with its talons.[22] They eat by holding the fish in one claw and tearing the flesh with the other. Eagles have special things on their toes called spiricules that help them hold the fish more easily.[22] Bald eagles have powerful talons. They have been seen flying with a 7 kg fawn.[25] Sometimes, when the fish is too heavy, the eagle will be dragged into the water with it. Sometimes, eagles swim back to the shore and live, but sometimes they may drown or die because of hypothermia (a condition when one’s body gets so cold the body temperature drops below normal). Other times, bald eagles steal fish and other kinds of food away from other animals.[26] Healthy adult bald eagles are not eaten anywhere in the wild. This makes them thought as one of the top animals of the food chain.[27]

Reproduction

 
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
 
Two chicks (eaglets)

Bald eagles become adults when they are four or five years old. When they are old enough to mate, they usually come back to the place where they were born. It is thought that bald eagles mate for life. However, if one of the pair dies or disappears, the other will choose a new mate. A pair which can not get a chick after trying for a long time, may split up and look for new mates.[28] When bald eagles court, they call and show their flying skills. When they do so, two mates may fly high, and then lock their talons together, and fall, parting again right before hitting the ground.[29] The nest of the bald eagle is larger than any other nest in North America.[2] This is because it is used again and again, and every year more is added to the nest until it may soon become as large as 4 meters (13 ft) deep, 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) across and weigh 1 tonne.[2] One nest in Florida was found to be 6.1 meters (20 ft) deep, 2.9 meters (9.5 ft) across, and to weigh 3 short tons (2.7 t).[30] The nest is built out of branches, usually in large trees near water. If there are no trees, the bald eagle will make its nest on the ground. Eagles have between one and three eggs per year. Both the male and female take turns incubating the eggs. The other parent will hunt for food or look for more to add onto the nest. The eggs are about 73 millimeters (2.9 in) long.[22]

Relationship with humans

Fall and rise of population

Once easily seen on the continental United States, the bald eagle was close to becoming extinct because of the use of the pesticide DDT.[31] The DDT destroyed an adult bird's calcium, and it would become unable to lay more healthy eggs. Female eagles laid eggs that were too weak to withstand the weight of its parents.[18] In the early 1700s, the number of bald eagles were 300,000–500,000,[32] but by the 1950s there were only 412 nesting pairs in the United States. Other things that stopped bald eagles from producing well was the loss of habitat and illegal hunting of bald eagles. Also, oil and lead were other big reasons why bald eagles began to die out.[33]

 
First-year

The species was first protected in the United States and Canada by the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty. The 1940 Bald Eagle Protection Act in the United States also tried to stop the killing of the bald eagle and the golden eagle. The bald eagle was an endangered species in 1967, and the penalties for people who killed the species grew more and more. Also, in 1972, DDT was banned in the United States.[34] DDT was completely banned in Canada in 1989.[35]

Because of all this hard work, the bald eagle's population began to rise again. It was officially taken out from the United States list of endangered species on July 12, 1995.[36]

To keep bald eagles in captivity, the workers had to be experienced in caring for eagles. The bald eagle can live a long time in captivity if well cared for, but does not mate well, even under the best care.[37]

The National Bird of the United States

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It appears on most of its seals, including the Seal of the President of the United States.[38] The Continental Congress made the design for the Great Seal of the United States with a bald eagle holding thirteen arrows and an olive branch with thirteen leaves in its talons on June 20, 1782.[39][40]

 
Seal of the President of the United States

The bald eagle can be found on both national seals and on the back of several coins (including the quarter dollar coin until 1999). Between 1916 and 1945, the Flag of the President of the United States showed an eagle facing to its left.[41]

There is a popular legend that Benjamin Franklin once supported the wild turkey as a symbol of the United States instead of the bald eagle. However, there is no evidence that this is true. The legend comes from the letter Franklin wrote to his daughter in 1784 from Paris. However, this letter was about the Society of the Cincinnati, and it did not say anything about the bald eagle or the wild turkey.[42]

In Native American culture

The Bald Eagle is a holy bird in some North American cultures. Its feathers are thought to be special. They are used very much in spiritual customs among the Native Americans. Eagles are thought as messengers between gods and humans.[43] Eagle feathers are often used in traditional things, especially in fans. The Lakota people, for instance, give an eagle feather as a symbol of honor to a person who achieves a task. In modern times, it may be given on an event such as a graduation from college.[44] The Pawnee people thought eagles as symbols of nature and fertility. This is because their nests are built high off the ground, and because they protect their young very bravely.[45] The Choctaw explained that the bald eagle, who can see the sun more directly, is a symbol of peace.[46]

During the Sun Dance, which is danced by a lot of Native American tribes, the eagle is included in many different ways. A whistle made from the wing bone of an eagle is used during the dance. Also during the dance, a medicine man may direct his fan, which is made of eagle feathers, to people who need healing. The fan is then held up toward the sky, so that the eagle may send all the sick prayers to the god.[47]

However, Native American tribes cannot use bald or golden eagle feathers for their religious or spiritual use anymore. This is because of a law called the eagle feather law. The eagle feather law usually defends Native Americans by providing many exceptions to wildlife laws, but it presently does not yet allow Native American tribes to use them yet. This made the Native American groups angry because they insisted that it was stopping their ability to use their religion freely.[48][49]

Bald Eagle Media

  • Bald eagle in flight, Ontario, Canada

  • Bald Eagle shot at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

  • A bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

  • A bald eagle showing its wingspan

  • Bald eagle in flight at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

  • In flight during a licensed performance in Ontario, Canada

  • During training at the Canadian Raptor Conservancy

  • With freshly caught fish in Kodiak

  • In flight with freshly caught fish

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Haliaeetus leucocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona ISBN 84-87334-15-6.
  3. ↑ "Bald Eagle Biology". Eagles.org. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  4. ↑ Bird, D.M. (2004). The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds. Ontario: Firefly Books. ISBN 1552979253.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Harris. "Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus". University of Michigan Museum of Geology. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  6. ↑ "Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus". Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 David Allen Sibley (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. National Audubon Society ISBN 0-679-45122-6 p.127
  8. ↑ "Bald Eagle". National Wildlife Federation. Archived from the original on 2010-11-06. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  9. ↑ Dudley, Karen (1998). Bald eagles. Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 0817245715.
  10. ↑ Joshua Dietz. "What's in a Name". Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  11. ↑ Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged ed.). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-910207-4.
  12. ↑ Linnaeus, Carolus (1766). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio duodecima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii).
  13. ↑ "Haliaeetus leucocephalus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Brown, N. L. "Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus". Endangered Species Recovery Program. Archived from the original on 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  15. ↑ "Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus". The Pacific Wildlife Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  16. ↑ Wink, M. (1996). "A mtDNA phylogeny of sea eagles (genus Haliaeetus) based on nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b gene" (PDF). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 24 (7–8): 783–791. doi:10.1016/S0305-1978(97)81217-3. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  17. ↑ "Bald Eagle Habitat". Bald-Eagles.info. Archived from the original on 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Bull, John; Farrand, John Jr. (1987). Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 468–9. ISBN 0-394-41405-5.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Wildlife Species: Haliaeetus leucocephalus". USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  20. ↑ "Ross Island FAQ" (PDF). Willamette Riverkeeper website. Willamette Riverkeeper. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  21. ↑ Carlson, Jen. "Bald Eagle Spotted Near Fairway". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Terres, J.K. (1980). The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. New York, NY: Knopf. pp. 644–647. ISBN 0394466519.
  23. ↑ "Bald Eagle Facts and Information". Eagles.org. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  24. ↑ Daum, David W. "Bald eagle". adfg.state.ak.us. Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  25. ↑ "Birds of prey — diet & eating habits". Seaworld.org. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  26. ↑ Jorde, D.G. (1998). "Kleptoparasitism by bald eagles wintering in South-Central Nebraska" (PDF). Journal of Field Ornithology. 59 (2): 183–188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  27. ↑ "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Bald Eagle". Sandiegozoo.org. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  28. ↑ Stocek, R.F. "Bald eagle". Canadian Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  29. ↑ "Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  30. ↑ Erickson, L. (2007). Bald eagle journey North About bald eagle nests Archived 2012-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ Brown, Leslie (1976). Birds of prey: their biology and ecology. Hamlyn. p. 226. ISBN 0-600-31306-9.
  32. ↑ "Bald eagle facts and information". American eagle foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  33. ↑ Milloy, Steven (2006-07-06). Bald Eagle. Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202447,00.html. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  34. ↑ EPA press release. DDT ban takes effect. United States Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/ddt/01.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  35. ↑ Barrera, Jorge. Agent Orange has left deadly legacy Fight continues to ban pesticides and herbicides across Canada. http://www.nben.ca/environews/media/mediaarchives/05/july/legacy.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  36. ↑ "Bald eagle soars off Endangered Species List". U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  37. ↑ Maestrelli, John R. (March 1975). "Breeding Bald Eagles in Captivity". The Wilson Bulletin. 87 (I). Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2007-08-19.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. ↑ 4 U.S.C. § 41; The bald eagle on the Great Seal.
  39. ↑ "Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782)". National Archives. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  40. ↑ The official description was in text only; no diagram was included. Text of the Act.
  41. ↑ Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. "A Turn of the Head". snopes.com. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  42. ↑ "American Heraldry Society | MMM / The Arms of the United States: Benjamin Franklin and the Turkey". Americanheraldry.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  43. ↑ Collier, Julie. "The Sacred Messengers". Mashantucket Pequot Museum. Archived from the original on 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  44. ↑ Melmer, David. Bald eagles may come off threatened list. Indian Country Today. http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415182. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
  45. ↑ Brown, Steven C.; Averill, Lloyd J.. Sun Dogs and Eagle Down. University of Washington Press. http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/BROSUN.html. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
  46. ↑ O'Brien, Greg (2005) [2002, 2005]. "Power Derived from the Outside World". Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830. University of Nebraska Press. p. 58. ISBN 0803286228.
  47. ↑ Lawrence, Elizabeth Atwood. The symbolic role of animals in the plains indian Sun dance. University of Washington Press. http://www.psyeta.org/sa/sa1.1/lawrence.html. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
  48. ↑ DeMeo, Antonia M. (1995). "Access to eagles and eagle parts: Environmental Protection v. Native American Free Exercise of Religion". Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. 22 (3): 771–813. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  49. ↑ Boradiansky, Tina S. (1990). Conflicting Values: The Religious Killing of Federally Protected Wildlife. University of New Mexico School of Law. http://www.animallaw.info/articles/arus30nrj709.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 

Further reading

Identification

  • Grant, Peter J. (1988) The Co. Kerry Bald Eagle Twitching 1(12): 379-80 – describes plumage differences between Bald Eagle and White-tailed Eagle in juveniles

Other websites

  Wikispecies has information on: Bald Eagle.
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