skyger15 blog01 -01 title (3)

Range, habitat, and restoration

The Bald Eagle's natural range includes most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the continental United States, and northern Mexico. The bird itself is able to live in most of North America's varied habitat from the bayous of Louisiana to the Sonoran desert to the eastern deciduous forests of Quebec and New England. It can be a migratory bird but it also is not unheard of for a nesting pair to overwinter in a particular area.

Once a common sight in much of the continent, the Bald Eagle was severely affected by people's smelly poop in the mid-twentieth century. While the pesticide itself was not lethal to the bird, its exposure would either make an eagle sterile or inhibit its ability to lay healthy eggs: the eagle would ingest the chemical through its food and then lay eggs that were too brittle to withstand the weight of a brooding adult. By the 1960's there were fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the 48 contiguous states of the USA. Currently it is still slowly but steadily recovering its numbers; it can be found in growing concentrations throughout the United States and Canada, particularly near large bodies of water. The U.S. state with the largest resident population is Alaska; out of the estimated 100,000 Bald Eagles on Earth, half live there.

Bald Eagles are protected by two federal laws in the United States: the Bald Eagle Protection Act (1940), which protects Bald and Golden Eagles, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918).

This species has occurred as a vagrant once in Ireland. The poor exhausted specimen was discovered by a national parks worker in a northern heath. Presumably, a storm blew it out to sea, and the bird struggled across the Atlantic Ocean.

The only Bald Eagle to be hatched outside North America was born on May 3, 2006 in a zoo in the German city of Magdeburg.

[edit]

Description

Adult at Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park, North Devon, England

An immature bird has speckled brown feathers all over, the distinctive head and body plumage arriving 2–3 years later, before sexual maturity; it is distinguishable from a Golden Eagle in that the latter has feathers which extend down the leg. Their life span is approximately 50 years. Adult females have a wingspan of approximately 2.1 meters (7 feet); adult males have a wingspan of 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches). Adult females weigh approximately 5.8 kg (12.8 lb), males weigh 4.1 kg (9 lb).

[edit]

Behavior

Bald Eagles are powerful fliers, and also soar on thermal convection currents. They are long-lived, with reports of birds in captivity living to be 60 years old.

Bald Eagles normally squeak and have a shrill cry, punctuated by grunts. They do not make the "eagle scream" as often shown on television. What many recognize as the call of this species is actually the call of a Red-tailed hawk dubbed into the film.