Bald Eagle

The bald eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico.

Range and Habitat[]

Bald eagles can be found all over North America, particularly Canada and the United States. They nest mostly near bodies of water like rivers, lakes and marshes. The bald eagle typically requires old-growth and mature trees for perching, roosting, and nesting.

Selected trees must have good visibility, be over 20 m (66 ft) tall, an open structure, and proximity to prey. The bald eagle is usually quite sensitive to human activity while nesting, and is found most commonly in areas with minimal human disturbance. It chooses sites more than 1.2 km (0.75 mi) from low-density human disturbance and more than 1.8 km (1.1 mi) from medium- to high-density human disturbance.

Flight Behaviour[]

The bald eagle is a powerful flier, and soars on thermal covection currents. It reaches speeds of 56–70 km/h (35–43 mph) when gliding and flapping, and about 48 km/h (30 mph) while carrying fish. Its dive speed is between 120–160 km/h (75–99 mph), though it seldom dives vertically.

It is partially migratory, depending on location. If its territory has access to open water, it remains there year-round, but if the body of water freezes during the winter, making it impossible to obtain food, it migrates to the south or to the coast.

Diet[]

The bald eagle is an opportunistic predator, capable of eating a variety of prey. Fish is the preferred prey for a bald eagle, particularly salmon or trout. In fact, fish comprise approximately 66% of the year-round diet of bald eagles and 78% of the prey brought to the nest by the parents. To catch fish, a bald eagle swoops down over the water and snatches the fish out of the water with its talons.

Other than fish, bald eagles will eat waterfowl like ducks, grebes and geese as well as small mammals like rabbits or prairie dogs. Juvenile bald eagles will scavenge carrion than hunt.

Family Life[]

Bald eagle courtship involves elaborate, spectacular calls and flight displays by the males. The flight includes swoops, chases, and cartwheels, in which they fly high, lock talons, and free-fall, separating just before hitting the ground. The nest is the largest of any bird in North America; it is used repeatedly over many years and with new material added each year may eventually be as large as 4 m (13 ft) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) across and weigh 1 ton.

The eggs average about 73 mm (2.9 in) long, ranging from 58 to 85 mm (2.3 to 3.3 in), and have a breadth of 54 mm (2.1 in), ranging from 47 to 63 mm (1.9 to 2.5 in). Eagles produce between one and three eggs per year, two being typical. Both the male and female take turns incubating the eggs, but the female does most of the sitting. The parent not incubating will hunt for food or look for nesting material during this stage. For the first two to three weeks of the nestling period, at least one adult is at the nest almost 100% of the time. After five to six weeks, the attendance of parents usually drops off considerably (with the parents often perching in trees nearby).

The young eaglets pick up and manipulate sticks, play tug of war with each other, practice holding things in their talons, and stretch and flap their wings. By eight weeks, the eaglets are strong enough to flap their wings, lift their feet off the nest platform, and rise up in the air. The young fledge at anywhere from 8 to 14 weeks of age, though will remain close to the nest and attended to by their parents for a further 6 weeks. Juvenile eagles first start dispersing away from their parents about 8 weeks after they fledge.

In Pop Culture[]

The bald eagle is a sacred bird to many Native American cultures, and its feathers are central to many religious and spiritual customs among Native Americans. Eagles are considered spiritual messengers between gods and humans by some cultures. . Eagle feathers are often used in traditional ceremonies, particularly in the construction of regalia worn and as a part of fans, bustles and head dresses.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America and appears on most official seals of the U.S. government, including the presidential seal, the presidential flag and in the logos of many U.S. federal agencies.

In the media, as with most other birds of prey, bald eagles are usually dubbed with the piercing screech of the red-tailed hawk. This led to the common misconception that it is a bald eagle screech. In reality, bald eagle calls sound more raspy, like a seagull.

Bald Eagle

Contents

Range and Habitat[]

Flight Behaviour[]

Diet[]

Family Life[]

In Pop Culture[]

Note[]

Gallery[]

Films[]

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Video Games[]

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Stuffed Animals[]