Scientific Classification
- Common Name
- bald eagle
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- accipitridae
- Genus Species
Haliaeetus
( ocean eagle )
leucocephalus
( white head )
Fast Facts
- Description
- mature adults have a white point and tail, solid brown body, and a large, curved, scandalmongering bill. Juveniles have blotchy patches of white on their bottom and tail .
- Size
- approximately 1 m ( 3 ft. ) in acme ; 2.3 megabyte ( 7 ft. ) wingspan
- Weight
- Male: 3.5 to 4 kg ( 8 to 9 lbs. )
Female : 4.5 to 6 kg ( 10 to 14 lbs. ) - Diet
- Prefers fish swimming close to the water ‘s surface ; besides feeds on small mammals, waterfowl, wading birds, and dead animal count ( carrion )
- Incubation
- 31 to 45 days
- Sexual Maturity
- approximately 4 to 5 years
- Life Span
- astir to 30 years in fantastic, longer in captivity
- Range
- North America from Alaska and Canada, south into Florida and Baja, California
- Habitat
- Live and nest near coastlines, rivers, lakes, besotted prairies, and coastal pine lands
- Population
- global : unknown
- Status
- IUCN: Threatened
CITES: Appendix I
USFWS: Threatened
Fun Facts
The bald eagle is not actually bald ; it actually has white feathers on its mind, neck, and fag end. Bald is a deviation of balde, an Old English word meaning white. The eagle was named for its white feathers rather of a lack of feathers.
Bald eagles may use the same nest year after class, adding more twigs and branches each time. One nest was found that had been used for 34 years and weighed over two tons.
The bald eagle can fly 32 to 64 kph ( 20 to 40 miles per hour ) in convention flight and can dive at speeds over 160 kph ( 100 miles per hour ).
Bald eagles can actually swim ! They use an overhand motion of the wings that is identical much like the butterfly accident.
More than 80 % of the bald eagle population in the southeast United States is concentrated within the state of matter of Florida.
For more information about raptors, explore the Raptor InfoBook .
Ecology and Conservation
1. Bald eagles are a identical authoritative character of the environment. By eating dead animal matter, they help with nature ‘s clean-up process. Bald eagles are besides hunters, so they keep animal populations potent. They do this by killing weak, old, and slower animals, leaving entirely the healthiest to survive .
2. The bald eagle is the national symbol of the United States of America, so when it became threatened with extinction in the 1960s ascribable to pesticide use, habitat loss, and other problems created by humans, people took poster .
3. For years the bald eagle was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. immediately the numeral of bald eagles has increased sol a lot that in June 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that they be downgraded from endangered status to the less pressing status of threatened in all but three of the lower 48 states. The success of the bald eagle is a protection to the Endangered Species Act and is an bonus for increase awareness and conservation everywhere .
Bibliography
Brown, L. and D. Amadon. Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World. New Jersey : Wellfleet Press, 1989 .
Laycock, G. “ All-American survivor ”. Wildlife Conservation, July-August, 1991. pp. 38-46.
Lee, G. “ Bald Eagle Soars Off Endangered List ”. The Tampa Tribune, June 30, 1994 .
ferocious, C. Eagles of North America. Wisconsin : Northwood Press, 1987 .
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “ Bald Eagle : hope Flies to Freedom from Near ”. Hadley, Mass : PR Newswire, June 30, 1994 .
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
