Bald Eagle

-


Introduction

For the first post of 2018, I’m going to start off with the first of the New Year’s eagle double feature. For the next two weeks, I’m going to write about the two eagle species native to North America, the bald and golden eagle. I was lucky enough to see both these eagles in the span of one week! This week I am going to write about the bald eagle. 
                                                                                                       Photo Credit AWWE83


  Bald Eagles in My Back Yard

I am lucky enough to live only a few miles from a bald eagle nesting sight. I normally have two to four sighting a year. Most of these sighting are during the daily drive, but some of them are over my backyard. My most recent sighting took place a few weeks ago. A pair of bald eagles flew over my yard. I was able to watch them circle for a few minutes before they flew out of view. A normal sighting occurs when I am crossing the bridge that overlooks the eagles nesting sight. Most of the time the eagles are flying above the bridge or sitting in the tree that holds their nest. My favorite sighting occurred a few years ago. I was crossing the bridge when an eagle flew right in front of my car. It was so close I honestly thought I was going to hit it for a seconds.

  Bald Eagle Fast Facts


  • The bald eagle is in the same family as old world vultures, kites, and hawks, which is Accipitradae.
  • The bald eagle is one of ten species of fish eagles.
  •  The bald eagle only exists in North America.
  • The bald eagle creates the largest nest of any bird in North America.
  • Male bald eagles are normally 25 percent smaller than female bald eagles.
  • The bald eagles average lifespan in the wild is 20 years.
  • The bald eagle's scientific name means white-headed sea eagle.
  • Bald eagles mate for life.

  National Emblem

The bald eagle is the United States National Emblem. The bald eagle was chosen for this on June 20, 1782. The bald eagle was chosen because of its majestic look, long life, strength, and the fact that is only exists on the continent of North America.

  Size and Wingspan

The body length of a male bald eagle is between 30 to 34 inches, with a wingspan between 72 to 85 inches. The female eagle is slightly larger. Her body length is between 35 to 37 inches, with a wingspan between 79 to 90 inches. The average weight of a bald eagle is between 10 and 14 ponds.

  Habitat

Bald eagles normally make their homes in forested areas with large trees that provide a clear view of the surrounding area. Most of these areas are near large bodies of water. Bald eagles can also be found in areas with human activity. Some examples of this include: dams, garbage dumps, and fish processing plants.



                                                                                                     Photo Credit Yathin S Krishnappa 

  Diet

The bald eagle is an opportunistic hunter sometimes acting as a predator, while other times acting like a scavenger. Most of the bald eagles hunting is done by watching for prey from a high point. When a prey item is spotted, the bald eagle swoops down on it. In areas with lots of fish, the bald eagle will stride into shallow water to capture fish. At times the bald eagle will also steal food items from other birds like Ospreys. This is known as pirating prey.
           60 to 90 percent of the bald eagles diet is fish. Some common species eaten are catfish, carp, herring, and salmon. Bald eagles will also hunt amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and crab; although this type of hunting mostly occurs in areas where fish are scarce. In addition to live prey, the bald eagle will also feed on carrion. 
                                                                                                 Photo Credit Murray Foubister


  Nesting

Eagle nests are known as eyries. Eagles mainly create nests in large trees that have good views of the surrounding area. Nests are located near seashores, rivers, and lakes. “The eagle nest near my house is located on a large tree on one of many small forested islands that dot the Susquehanna River.”
          A newly created nest is two feet high and five feet wide. The inside of the nest is lined with grass, weeds, and moss. A mating pair of eagles uses the same nest for years. Sometimes the nest will grow so heavy it breaks the branch it’s sitting on. Nesting season for eagles is February through April. During this time the female normally lays two eggs, but sometimes one or three eggs are laid. These eggs are unmarked and white. Both male and female eagles take turns incubating the eggs. Eggs will begin hatching after 35 days.
        The male and female eagles will bring food to the young eaglets, ripping it into small pieces for the young to eat. In three to four weeks the eaglets will begin to develop feathers, and by six to seven weeks will start walking around the nest. The young eaglets will begin to fly at around three months. It actually takes five years for an adult bald eagle to get a solid white head and tail.


                                                     Photo Credit Walter Siegmund


 Bald Eagles Driven to Near Extinction and Recovery  

During the early 18th century, the bald eagle population was estimated to be between 300,000 to 500,000 birds. However, during the mid-20th century, the bald eagle population was greatly affected by the pesticide DDT. The chemical was not lethal to adult birds, but it did effect the eagle’s calcium metabolism. The result of this was birds unable to lay healthy eggs, or even becoming sterile. The eggs that were laid were brittle and would often break under the weight of the female. The brittle eggs along with habitat loss and hunting caused the bald eagle population to drastically drop. It was estimated that during a 12 year period in the state of Alaska 70,000 bald eagles were shot. This mass hunting was fueled by a myth that bald eagle’s hunted livestock and young children.  
During the year 1940, Congress signed “The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.” which prevents hunting and trapping of bald and golden eagles. By the 1950s only 412 nesting pairs of bald eagles existed in the wild! In 1967 the bald eagle was placed on the endangered species list, and in 1972 the chemical DDT was banned.
          With these regulations in place, the bald eagle population grew. In the 1980s the bald eagle population was estimated to contain 100,000 eagles. On July 12, 1995 the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list and moved to the threatened species list. The most recent bald eagle data was from 2006 and showed 9789 breeding pairs of eagles in the United States. On June 28, 2007 the bald eagle was removed from the threaten species list in the lower 48 states.

  Bald Eagle Recovery in Pennsylvania

During the year 1983, only three nesting pairs of bald eagles remained in Pennsylvania. To save the bald eagle population in Pennsylvania, 88 eaglets were brought to Pennsylvania from Canada. The eaglets were released into the wild through a process known as hacking. Hacking is feeding a young bird and keeping a young bird in semi-wild conditions until it is old enough to fend for itself. By 1998 PA was home to 25 pairs of nesting bald eagles, by 2006, 100 nests were confirmed in the state, and in 2013 the number of nests reached 250.  
                                                                                                Photo Credit Lewis Hulbert


  Conclusion

The bald eagle is a great success story of a species who was driven to near extinction and now has healthy populations across the United States. I am very blessed to live only a few miles from a bald eagle nest and to see bald eagles fly over my backyard. Join me next time as we explore wildlife in my backyard and other nature topics.  

  Additional Resources and References   

Audubon. (N.D.). Bald Eagle. Retrieved from
http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bald-eagle
baldeagleinfo. (2017). Bald Eagle, US National Emblem. Retrieved from http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle9.html
Cornell University. (2015). Bald Eagle. Retrieved from
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/id
National Geographic Society. (2018). Bald Eagle. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/b/bald-eagle/
Pennsylvania Game Commission. (2018). Eagles & Osprey Wildlife Note. Retrieved from http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Education/WildlifeNotesIndex/Pages/EaglesOsprey.aspx

  Photo Credit and References

AWWE83 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47158936

 Lewis Hulbert - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42182395

Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53834322

Murray Foubister - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mfoubister/19159890706/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51742917

Walter Siegmund - Own work, CC BY 2.5,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3937699

Yathin S Krishnappa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21436759



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April Fools Post Cookie Monster’s Path of Destruction.

-
Image
  Introduction This week’s post is an April fools post. The subject matter has no relevance to nature or animals. This week I am going to write about a question that has haunted me for years and years. The question is how much damage did Cookie Monster do in the episode Big Bird’s Birthday? Like most children when I was a child I watched Sesame Street. The episode Big Bird’s Birthday aired on March 15, 1991 and became a favorite of mine as a child. The main reason I enjoyed it was because Cookie Monster wants to eat Big Birds cake, while mostly everyone else on Sesame street is ice skating. However, he knows he cannot eat Big Birds cake, so he eats many other items on Sesame Street instead. So, today I am finally going to answer the question that has bothered me for years, how much damage did Cookie Monster do?                                             ...
Read more

Corn Snake

-
Image
Introduction This week I wanted to write about one of my favorite animals to work with at the nature center the corn snake.                                                                                                  Houdini  Photo Credit Matt Bell Corn Snakes in my Backyard Unfortunately, I have had very little sighting of corn snakes in my backyard. The reason for this is they are not native to PA. However, I did have one sighting in the early 2000s! Sometimes on warm spring and summer nights I will take a night walk around the creek in my front yard, just to see what I can find. One night I saw a small corn snake at the edge of the small forest in my front yard. The snake retreated...
Read more

Wildlife in My Backyard Introductory Blog

-
Image
                                                     Introduction. Hello my name is Matthew Bell. Welcome to my blog! I write about the different plant and animal life I have encountered around my home and during my travels. I will also write about different topics which includes: pets, ecosystems, creation science, and strange natural phenomenon. I currently hold a B.S. in Environmental Science, and have focused studied in Biology. Why I Started This Blog? I decided to start this blog because I love writing, and learning about the different animal and plant life in our world. So, I thought it would be fun to start documenting the animal and plant life that lives around my home. I hoped this will increase my knowledge of the wildlife in my area, and anyone who reads this blog. My Life Story. I was born in Fort Wayne Indiana on N...
Read more