Bald Eagles, the symbol of our Nation. USA’s majestic and symbolic National bird.
The Bald Eagle is unique to North America, the name means white for Bald and sea for Eagle.
Bald Eagles are found over most of the North America from Alaska to Canada and in to Northern Mexico. About half of the Bald Eagles 70,000 population lives in Alaska.
The USA’s National Emblem: The Bald Eagle was officially declared so in 1782. The Bald Eagle has since become the living symbol of freedom, sprit and the pursuit of excellence.
The color of a newly hatch Bald Eagle is light grey; they turn brown before they leave the nest in about 12 weeks of age. They under go much change until they reach adult hood. The first 3 or 4 years they have molted brown and white feathers under their wings, head, and breast. The distinctive white head and tail feathers do not appear until Bald Eagles are about 4 or 5 years old. Their eyes and beaks turn yellow during the 4th or 5th year; they are dark brown before this happens.
Bald Eagles are 29 to 42 inches long and weigh from 7 to 15 pounds. The wing span if from 6 to 8 feet wide, making them one of the largest birds in Northern America. The surprising thing is that the female is the larger of the two. The life span is about 40 years now.
Bald Eagles live only by some body of water, where there is plenty of fish and tall trees for nesting. They will eat small animals when fishing is poor. They swoop down on pry or fish and snatch food up with the talons on their feet. They can lift about half of their own weight.
Bald Eagles have been recorded at 44 miles per hour in level flight. Their diving speed for prey is 75 to 100 miles per hour. They can fly to an altitude of 10,000 feet. They can soar for hours using wind currents and thermal updrafts.
We took a trip on Amtrak from Anacortes, Washington to Vancouver, BC. The tracks go around the ocean most of the way. As we came around the corner where the ocean is the closest to the train tracks the engineer said look for eagles. We were thinking 5 or 10; there were at least 150 of them. They were everywhere. The Engineer also said every day when he goes by there are two of the eagles that wind surf by the draft from the train. Just out having fun in the early morning train draft.
Eagles mate for life. They nest in the same trees year after year.
By 1960 there were only 500 pairs of eagles in the United States. The population decline was because of DDT insecticide used on crops and got into the water, causing contaminated water that they drank. The eagles were put on the endangered species and protected list.
Today there are 20,000 total birds in the lower 48 states with Alaska having 35,000 more.
We only have 8 nesting eagles that are known about in Utah. They come here between the months of November and March. Up to 900 have come here for the winter to feed at Farmington Bay. You can see them just off of I-15 freeway.
Viewing is best in the early morning, they roost in the afternoon.
