Endangered Species: The Bald Eagle

Close your eyes and picture this amazing and beautiful bird soaring over mountains tops and across oceans of golden fields and flying over the seas and the cities where we live. This gives this magnificent bird the right to be our Nations All American Bird! It seems that he soars over us to protect us from evil...Did we choose him to be our national bird or did he choose us, so he could be our nation's protector! This was just a thought from this writer's keyboard. Now learn all about The Bald Eagle....here we go.

The Bald Eagle ranges over the biggest part of our continent form the northern reaches of Alaska and the Canada down to northern Mexico. Major wintering areas for the bald eagles occur along the lower reaches of the Mississippi, Missouri, and the Illinois River systems, Florida,
and the Pacific coast.

While the bald eagle was in danger of extinction throughout most of its range 25 years ago, it has made a tremendous comeback. Its populations have greatly improved in numbers, productivity, and security in recent years.

The males are usually about 3 feet from head to tail, weigh 7 to 10 pounds, and also have a wingspan of around 6 ½ feet. All females are larger, most reaching 14 pounds and a wingspan of up to 8 feet. The bald eagles have large, pale eyes, a powerful yellow beak, and great black talons. The beautiful white head and tail feathers appear only after the bird is 4 to 5 years of age.

It is believed the bald eagles live to be 30 years of age or older in the wild, and they live even longer in captivity. They mate for life and build giant nests in tops of large trees, near lakes, rivers, marshes or other wetland areas. They go to the same nest year after year. Their nest may reach 10 feet across and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds! The birds may go thousands of miles in their lifetime but they always nest within 100 miles of where they were born.