Tech*Savvy*Students
Bald Eagle
(The following information was retrieved from The Washington Nature Mapping Program (4/15)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Species Code: HALE
Águila blanca - en Español
What They Look Like:
The Bald Eagle is a very large raptor with a dark brown body and wings and a white head and tail. Its legs and feet are bright yellow, as is its large, hooked bill. Its eyes are light yellow. Immature eagles are mostly brown from head to tail with mottled brown and white feathers on the chest. The sharp hooked bill is gray and their eyes are light brown.
Females are larger than males, weigh from 10-14 pounds, and have a 6½- to 7-foot wingspan. Males usually weigh from 8-10 pounds and have a 6- to 6½-foot wingspan.
Where They Live:
The Bald Eagle is found only in North America, primarily in coastal areas or near large inland lakes and rivers that have abundant fish. Eagles can be found perched in large trees along the shores.
This species is common along salt and freshwater bodies at lower elevations throughout western Washington. Click the range map to learn more about the distribution of Bald Eagles in Washington.
What they eat: Bald eagles feed on live fish that they snatch out of the water using their sharp talons. The undersides of eagle's feet are rough, and keep the fish from slipping from the eagle's grasp. They also feed on dead spawned salmon along the stream banks. Bald eagles eat ducks and other birds in addition to small mammals. In the San Juan Islands, eagles hunt rabbits as the main source of food.
Nesting:
Bald Eagles build large stick nests, called eyries, in tall trees or on cliffs. They keep adding sticks to the nest yearly until the size reaches up to 9 feet in diameter and weighs up to 2,000 pounds!
Bald Eagles typically breed in pairs. The female lays 2 eggs, at the end of February or the first days of March. Both parents incubate the eggs for 34 to 36 days. For the first two weeks after the young hatch, one parent is with the chicks almost constantly.
Conservation:
The bald eagle was officially listed as an endangered species in 1976.
In 1995 the bald eagle was downlisted to threatened. It is considered a threatened species by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In the state of Washington alone, there are currently more than 550 active Bald Eagle nests, including many in urban settings like Seward Park in Seattle.
Did You Know?
-
Eagles can fly up to 30 m.p.h. and can dive at speeds up to 100 m.p.h.
-
Bald eagles develop the characteristic white head and tail feathers by 4-6 years of age
-
Fledgling eagles learn to fly at three months of age
-
Eagles live can 30 years or more in the wild
-
Male bald eagles are smaller than females
-
Eagles mate for life and return to same nesting territory year after year
Status of the Bald Eagle:
On June 28, 2007 the Department of Interior took the American bald eagle off the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened.
Bald Eagle De-listing:
Bald eagles will still be protected Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
The US Fish & Wildlife Service Bald and Golden Eagle Post-De-listing Survey Results.
The number of nesting pairs in the lower 48 United States increased 10-fold, from less than 450 in the early 1960s, to more than 4,500 adult bald eagle nesting pairs in the 1990s. In the Southeast, for example, there were about 980 breeding pairs in 1993, up from about 400 in 1981. The largest concentrations were in the states of Florida and Louisiana. The most recent count of bald eagle nesting pairs in the lower 48 indicates MN, FL, and WI have the largest numbers.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates the number of Bald Eagle breeding pairs at 9,789.
(The following information was retrieved from BaldEagleInfo.com (4/15)
(The following information was retrieved from How Stuff Works (4/15)
The Bald Eagle population received the biggest blow from the environmental prevalence of a chemical pesticide called Dichloro-diphenyl-trichlorethane (DDT), which seeped into freshwater supplies. This meant that fish swimming in the polluted waters would absorb the chemical. From there, eagles would ingest the fish and effectively consume the poison. Once in their bloodstreams, DDT caused females to produce eggs with shells too thin to protect the embryo. Since the hatchlings couldn't survive, the number of bald eagles shriveled accordingly. Rachel Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring" about DDT's harmful environmental effects helped bring about the ban on the pesticide's use in 1972.
