The Bald Eagle......an American icon. Adopted as the emblem of the United States on June 20th, 1782, the Bald Eagle was chosen because of it's great strength, majestic looks and long life. It has since become the USA's symbol of strength, freedom and the pursuit of excellence. The Bald Eagle is truly a force to be reckoned with...in spirit and in nature.
Weighing in at 7 to 15 pounds with a wing span from 6' to 8' they are the largest birds in North America. Covered with brown feathers over most of their body, their tail feathers and head are white and their beak is orange however they don't show these signature colors until the age of 4 or 5. As adolescence they are molted brown and white with brown beaks.
Bald Eagles are very powerful. They use their talons to seize their prey displaying a strength of approximately 1,000 pounds of pressure per square inch in each foot thus allowing them to carry away their food that could be up to half of their own body weight. Preferring to use a cruising speed of around 44 miles per hour to pick up their prey, Bald Eagles have also displayed a diving speed from 75 to 100 miles per hour. Riding the thermals in the sky they can reach altitudes of up to 10,000 feet or more.
In the wild Bald Eagles can live as long as 40 years and even longer in captivity. In the early 1700's their population was estimated at around 500,000 strong. By the 1960's their population fell to less than 500 pairs of nesting birds caused by mass shootings, pesticides on crops, destruction of habitats and much more. Taken to the brink of extinction, environmental protection laws, federal conservation efforts and private efforts have brought the Bald Eagle back to the American skies. On the "Endangered" list from 1967 - 1995 their status was moved to the "Threatened" list. Finally, on June 28th 2007 these majestic birds were delisted and once again fly the skies in increasing numbers.
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