The Bird Cage

Lore & Background

The bald eagle is the national bird and national symbol of the United States and appears on its seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States, but measures such as banning the practice of hunting bald eagles and banning the use of the harmful pesticide DDT slowed the decline of their population. Populations have since recovered, and the species' status was upgraded from 'endangered' to 'threatened' in 1995 and removed from the list altogether in 2007.

Reader's Guide

The bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder that subsists mainly on fish, upon which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m deep, 2.5 m wide, and 1 t in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years. Bald eagles are not bald in the literal sense; the name derives from an older meaning of the word, 'white-headed'. The adult is mainly brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage, but females are about 25% larger than males. The yellow beak is large and hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown.

Did You Know?

• The bald eagle's call consists of weak staccato, chirping whistles, kleek kik ik ik ik, somewhat similar in cadence to a gull's call.
• The largest eagles are from Alaska, where large females may weigh more than 7 kg and span 2.44 m across the wings.
• The bald eagle was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae, under the name Falco leucocephalus.