Strong, bold U.S. symbol
Easily recognizable as the strong, bold symbol of the United States, the bald eagle is found over most of North America from Alaska and Canada down to Northern Mexico.
With about half of all bald eagles living in Alaska, the northwest coast of North America has, by far, the greatest concentration.
An adult bald eagle is evenly brown with a white head and tail. While identical in coloration, females are typically 25% larger than males. The beak, feet and irises of the bald eagle are bright yellow. Their legs have short toes that boast large, powerful talons. The hind toe, with its highly developed talon, is used to pierce its prey while being held by the front toes.
The body length of the bald eagle ranges from 28 to 38 inches with sizes of the bird varying by location. Adult females have a wingspan of up to 88 inches while adult males average smaller wingspans at around 66 inches. The female weighs approximately 13 pounds while males weigh in at around 9 pounds.
Bald eagles build the largest nest of any bird in North America and use them repeatedly over the years. Adding new material each year, these nests can measure up to 13 feet deep, 8 feet across and weigh up to 1.1 tons. Built mostly of branches, the nest of the bald eagle is usually found near open bodies of water in very large trees. When breeding occurs where there are no large, sturdy trees, the nest of the bald eagle can be found on a ground surface.
The bald eagle produces between one to three eggs per year. While the male and female share the responsibility of incubation, whichever parent is free from this duty will hunt for food or extra nesting materials when needed.
Incubation for the eggs averages about 35 days. The parents will brood their offspring until they are about 4 weeks of age. The fledgling stage occurs sometime between 70 to 92 days after birth. As the nestlings grow, their plumage is white-speckled brown until sometime between the ages of three to five years.
The diet of the bald eagle consists mostly of fish, but can vary. In winter months, eagles rely largely on carrion and will scavenge carcasses. They have also been known to feed on items stolen from campsites, picnics, and garbage dumps. Animal prey of the bald eagle includes muskrats, rabbits, raccoons, hares, and sea otters. Their choice of avian prey includes ducks, grebes, gulls, coots, egrets, and geese.
Officially declared an endangered species in 1967, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of the bald eagle to “threatened” in July of 1995. Then, on June 28, 2007, the U.S. Department of the Interior removed the American bald eagle from the Endangered Species List. However, the bald eagle remains protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The latter of these prohibits the take, sale, transport, trade, barter, import or export, and possession of eagles, making it illegal to collect eagles, eagle parts, nests, or eagle’s eggs.