Bald eagles are considered to be sea eagles, and their scientific name is Haliaeetus
leucocephalus. Whew, try saying that five times fast! Broken down, their name means sea eagle
white head - and I’m sure you can probably guess why. The “bald” in a bald eagle’s common
name is derived from the word ‘piebald’ which is really just an indicator of two different colors,
usually black and white. So when someone says “bald eagle” she doesn’t literally
mean an eagle that is without head feathers but rather an eagle that has contrasting colors.
This is because adult bald eagles have stark white heads and tails against dark brown body feathers.
Their eyes, beaks, and legs are yellow in color. Juvenile bald eagles do not have
these distinct markings, though, and can easily be confused with similar looking golden eagles.
Juveniles will retain mottled brown and white markings until they’re fully matured
at about five years of age. When they’ve reached this point, they’re ready to mate.
Bald eagles remain with the same mate until one of the couple dies at which point the survivor
will find a new mate. The female, who is often larger than her bird-brain mate, lays between
1-3 eggs in a nest constructed by both parents that will be reused for the next breeding season.
Both parents also incubate the eggs during the 35 or so days that they need to develop.
Once they hatch, the babies remain in the nest for about two and a half months depending on their
geographical location. They’ll fledge after that and stay under the guidance of their parents for
a few more weeks before setting off on their own. Bald eagles will reuse nests each breeding season.
Bald eagles can live to be nearly 50 years of age, though in the wild the average is closer to 20.
Over the past century, eagles have faced the brink of extinction. In the 1960s, there were
noted to be less than 500 mating pairs in the wild. Shortly after, bald eagles were put on the
endangered species list. Their numbers have grown over time, and in 2007 they were removed from the
endangered species list - one of only 56 species to be removed from a list of over 2,000. So they
have quite the survival story. Today they’re still covered by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act since their numbers still are not what they once were.
Bald eagles are the only eagles natively solely to North America. Perhaps this is in part why
they were chosen as the national bird for the United States of America.
Some people actually take offense at using bald eagles as our national bird
because they’re kind of bullies. See, bald eagles are opportunistic eaters - they’ll just as soon
catch their own fish as they will steal the fish of someone else. They’ll also happily
dine on dead fish they happen to come across in their flight. Fish are their favorite food,
which is good because they are almost exclusively found near bodies of water, but they’ll also eat
other birds and mammals if it comes to it. Their found throughout the continent of North America
with larger individuals living further North. Some have suggested that there are two subspecies of
bald eagles: northern bald eagles and southern bald eagles, but this isn’t necessarily verified
and, frankly, bald eagles migrate so that just makes everything all the more muddled. No,
they don’t migrate to escape cold weather - their feathers are well equipped to keep them cozy no
matter where they are - but they do migrate for food. In colder climates, food can be scarce,
so to ensure there’s enough to go around, they’ll pack up an leave until the weather warms up.
In size, bald eagles are the second largest bird of prey in North America, falling behind
the California condor. Their wingspan is 6.5 feet (2m) on average which surpasses the wingspan of
the great blue herons we discussed on a previous episode. They typically weigh about 10 pounds
(4.5kg). Also, if you think that bald eagles sound like this: (call) then you probably haven’t
watched our red-tailed hawk episode. In reality, bald eagles sound a little something like this.
For more facts on bald eagles, take a look at the links in the description.
How do you feel about bald eagles? Let us know in the comments!
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