05/28/2020
The American bald eagle is arguably the most majestic of all birds of prey in North America. It
has been revered and respected for centuries by Native Americans and was chosen by our
nation’s founders as a symbol of authority, strength, and pride for the United States, where its
likeness is found on our seal, official documents, currency, flags, public buildings, and other
governmental items.
The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) exists in most of Canada and Alaska, all of the
contiguous US, and northern Mexico. They are found in virtually any kind of wetland habitat
such as seacoasts, rivers, large lakes, marshes, or other large bodies of open water where
there is an abundant food supply and old-growth conifer or hardwood trees that they use for
nesting, perching, and roosting. In the wild, they have a life span of 20 to 30 years.
Bald eagles are not actually bald, although both its common and scientific names are derived
from the distinctive appearance of the adult’s head. Their name comes from an old English
usage of bald being “white” or “white headed” rather than “hairless.” It takes 4 or 5 years for the
head feathers of the bald eagle to reach maturity and display the whiteness for which it is
named.
Size-wise, the bald eagle dwarfs every other raptor except the California condor. It has a body
length of 28 to 40 inches. Typical wingspan is between 6 and 7 1/2 feet, and they weigh
normally between 6 1/2 and 14 pounds. Females are about 25% larger than males and the bird
generally conforms to Bergmann’s rule, whereby populations of larger size are found in colder
environments than those in warmer regions.
The bald eagle is not finicky about its diet, although it subsists mainly on fish such as salmon,
herring, shad, and catfish. Depending on availability, they will also eat birds, reptiles,
amphibians, crabs, and mammals like rabbits and muskrats. They will eat prey live, fresh, or as
carrion, and if given the opportunity are not shy about stealing it from others. Its powerful flight
capability remarkably enables it to carry objects nearing its own body weight, and they possess
eye sight six times sharper than that of humans, able to spot prey from over a mile away.
The bald eagles aerial antics astound, with stunning power dives up to 100 miles per hour, roller
coaster swoops, and high-speed chases. They typically mate for life, having a “divorce rate” of
under 5%, and their mating rituals are spectacular. The most famous and recognizable of these
being “cartwheel courtship flight,” in which the mates gain altitude, lock talons, and go into a
cartwheel spin as they hurtle toward the ground. They, most of the time and at the last second,
break apart and pull out of the dive.
Eagles construct the largest nests of any recorded animal species out of sticks and in the tops
of tall trees. These nests are heavy. The largest recorded eagles nest was found in St.
Petersburg, FL, measuring 9.5 feet in diameter, 20 feet deep, and weighing close to 3 tons. Lots
of room for the 2 or 3 eggs they normally lay each season.
Beginning in the late 20th century, the bald eagle was on the brink of extinction in the
contiguous US, the victim of trapping, shooting, and poisoning, and later pesticide-caused
reproductive failures. Their recovery is a spectacular conservation success story, with the bald
eagle being removed from the US government’s list of endangered species in 1995 and
transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from that list in 2007, and there are
now an estimated 10,000 mating pair of bald eagles in North America. Existing laws make it
illegal to possess, sell, hunt, or even offer same, not only living bald eagles, but also their
feathers, nests, eggs, or body parts. There are exceptions for permits to enable Native
Americans to continue their traditional spiritual and cultural practices.
We want to thank you for being a loyal subscriber. As a fellow survivor we hope the missives we
have provided will be entertaining. Please know that we are here for you. How can we help? Do
you need anything?
“Hope you are well…be well”. General Lee to Major General George Pickett, Gettysburg, PA
July 3, 1863
Dennis Kuhr 602-502-3800 [email protected]
