text x_quick_Title2=Class: Aves~Order: Falconiformes~Family: Accipitriidae
text x_quick=Where In the World~` Bald eagles are threatened in the lower 48 states, but in Alaska, their numbers are safe.~` After the 1993 Mid-Winter Count, there were just over 12,000 bald eagles in the U.S. outside of Alaska.~` Bald eagles are found across much of North America and in all U.S. states except for Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.~ ~Take a Look!~` The average bald eagle is 30 to 31 inches tall with a wingspan of six to almost eight feet.~` Female bald eagles are larger than males. Females weigh about 10 to 14 pounds, and males weigh eight to ten pounds.~` The most distinctive features of the bald eagle are its snowy white head and tail, and long yellow bill. Immature bald eagles don't have white heads or tails.~ ~All in the Family~` Bald eagles are related to the sea or fish eagles, including the white-tailed eagle, Steller's sea-eagle, Pallas' sea-eagle, the white-breasted sea-eagle,~Sanford's sea-eagle, the African fish-eagle, and the Madagascar fish-eagle.~ ~Just the Facts!~` Bald eagles are territorial, and will return to their own traditional nesting areas after winter migrations.~` Eagles gather in groups over a thousand strong during the salmon runs in Alaska.~` A large portion of the bald eagle's diet comes from fish, especially salmon in the northernwestern ranges. They also eat small mammals, waterfowl, seabirds, turtles, and carrion.~` Bald eagles mate once a year and lay one or two eggs.~` The estimated lifespan of a bald eagle is from 20 to 30 years.
;Habitat
text x_hab= Bald eagles are the only eagles that live exclusively in North America. At one time they ranged across most of the continent. Today, their numbers are limited outside of Alaska and Canda. Because the bald eagle's diet consists primarily of fish, their habitat must be near water, such as lakes, river, marshes, or the ocean coastline. They need high trees or cliffs where they can perch and survey their territory, and a high perch is needed to build the aerie, or nest. Eagles generally prefer habitats away from human homes and developments.
;Food
text x_eat= Bald eagles are opportunistic feeders, which means they're pretty much willing to eat whatever is available. The majority of the bald eagle's diet comes from fish, especially salmon in parts of its range, as well as catfish, pickerel, and walleye trout. The remainder of its diet comes from small mammals (especially rabbits), waterfowl, seabirds, turtles, and carrion. Bald eagles are expert "fishermen." They perch on a tree on the shore or fly over the water in search of a fish. When one is spotted at or near the surface, the eagle swings into action. Eagles can descend safely at up to 100 mph, using their powerful wings to brake just before they reach the water. With the momentum of the dive, the strong talons swing forward and grab for the fish. Eagles don't always get the prey they go after, but often the snatch is successful. Sometimes the fish is pretty big - large enough to make flying hard. So while the eagle is flying back to the aerie (or nest), it instinctively holds its fish facing front, one foot gripping behind the other, to make the fish glide through the air as easily as possible. Often, the bird must keep a sharp lookout for other eagles who will try to steal the fish in mid-flight. It's easier to steal a fish than catch one!
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= Bald eagles will gather in large groups to take advantage of a seasonally abundant food source - in Alaska, thousands of bald eagles will put up with each other so all can fish for salmon during the spawning season. But usually, eagles like a little room between themselves and their neighbours. In places where there is plenty of room, eagles might nest within 150 feet of each other. More commonly, they prefer to be several miles apart, so that each pair of eagles can have plenty of undisputed territory on all sides of the nest. A bald eagle's aerie (or nest) is a huge construction. A mated pair of eagles will search through their territory for the perfect site high on a cliff or in a tree - preferably a hundred feet up or more - with an undisturbed view of their home range. The pair work together to bring twigs and sticks to the nest, and will build it until they have a substantial platform to lay the eggs on. Bald eagles mate for life and the same pair will return year after year to the same aerie. Each year they add a bit more. Often a bald eagle's nest is six feet in diameter and four to ten feet deep! The female lays one or two eggs and both parents take turns incubating them for the 34 to 36 days it takes the chicks to hatch. For the next four months, the parents take turns "babysitting" the hatchlings and protecting them from sun, rain, or cold while the other flies over the range to find food. Eaglets are always hungry, and their parents make between four and eight feeding trips each day. The chick's first flight feathers grow in about four months, and soon the young eaglets can leave the aerie for short flights. When the fledgelings reach adulthood, they will be able to soar at a height of two miles. Their eyesight is remarkably sharp, and when they spot a fish in water or a rabbit on open land, they can plummet down from the sky at up to 100 mph, using their enormous wings to brake at the last minute. Their grasping talons swing forward, the prey is snatched, and the eagle returns to its perch to eat its lunch. The most common call of the bald eagle is the "scream-call," which is a piercing scream repeated seven or eight times in a row. Sometimes it's used as an alarm call to warn off intruders, and sometimes it's a method of long-distance communication between an eagle and its mate. The parents also use a "chitter-call," a rapid series of chirps, when they switch duties from babysitting to food-finding.
;Threats
text x_threat= There's no question that the bald eagle's biggest enemy - in the past - was humankind. Some people believed that a bald eagle was a threat to their livestock or domestic animals, so thousands of eagles were killed to protect animals that, for the most part, were rarely at risk. Other eagles were killed for sport and just because it's such a handsome bird and made such a dramatic trophy. Things looked bleak for the bald eagle until 1940, when the National Emblem Law was passed, making it illegal to kill bald eagles in the lower 48 states. By 1962, it was also illegal to kill them in Alaska. But by 1963, there were only 400 to 600 pairs left in the United States outside of Alaska. Was it all due to hunting and poaching? No scientists discovered another, even greater problem that humans accidentally created for the bald eagle. The chemical DDT was sprayed on crops across the country - it seemed to be a great way to stop bugs. For a while, the farmers, and all of the country, thought DDT was great. But the DDT washed off the crops in the rain. The rain ran into streams, which lead into rivers and oceans. The DDT got into the fish, and the fish went into the eagles, and into other fish-eating birds. Among other things, DDT limits the calcium in eagle eggs so the eggs weren't strong enough and broke under the incubating parent. The chicks that did hatch were often deformed, with crossed bills that meant they couldn't eat. DDT use was banned in the United States years ago, and that's been good news for the bald eagle. (Many other countries still use it, so fish-eating birds that migrate from one country to another still may not be safe from DDT.) Other pesticides and chemicals that have proven to be dangerous to bald eagles and other wildlife have also been banned. In many parts of its range, the bald eagle faces yet another threat - loss of habitat to human development. Both bald eagles and humans want to live along the river or in sight of the lake - humans usually get to have the last word. If humans come too near an aerie, the bald e
