Bald Eagle

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the national bird of the United States and one of the conservation success stories of the 20th century. Adults are unmistakable with their white head, white tail, and contrasting dark brown body and wings; juveniles are mottled brown and don't develop the iconic white head until age 4-5.

By 1963, only 417 nesting pairs remained in the contiguous United States. The collapse was driven by DDT contamination of waterways, which biomagnified up the food chain and accumulated in eagles that ate contaminated fish. The pesticide caused eggshells to thin so dramatically that incubating adults crushed their own eggs. Hunting, habitat loss, and lead poisoning from waterfowl ammunition compounded the problem.

The DDT ban in 1972, full federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, captive breeding and reintroduction programs, and decades of habitat restoration brought populations roaring back. By 2007 the bald eagle was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List. Today there are over 70,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 and another 50,000+ in Alaska — the species' core stronghold.

Bald eagles are primarily fish-eaters but are opportunistic — they readily scavenge carrion, steal fish from osprey, hunt waterfowl, and during salmon spawning runs gather by the hundreds along Alaska and Pacific Northwest rivers. The largest known bald eagle nest, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was used for 35 years, weighed over 2 tons, and measured 9.5 feet across and 20 feet deep.

The bird's "fierce" eagle call from movies is almost always actually a dubbed red-tailed hawk scream. The real bald eagle call is a high-pitched series of weak chirps and whistles that sounds rather underwhelming for the bird's majestic appearance.