Bald Eagle Bird

Facts about Bald Eagle bird. "Scientific name for Bald Eagle bird is Haliaeetus leucocephalus". The Bald Eagle bird’s variety includes most of the Alaska and Canadian species including all the varieties bordering northern Mexico and the United states. The Bald Eagle is the proud national bird symbol of the United States of America. The Bald Eagle bird is also known as the sea eagle and has two known sub-species which form a species pair with the white-tailed eagle, scientifically known as Haliaeetus albicilla.

Features of the Bald Eagle

A fully grown Bald Eagle bird experiences sexual maturity at about four to five years of age. The Bald Eagle bird has an approximate body length of 28 to 40 inches (71 to 101.6 cm) with a natural wing span of about 6 to 8 feet (1.82 to 2.43 meters) and weights of approximately 6.6 to 13.2 pounds (3 to 6 kg). The female Bald Eagle bird is usually larger than the male species, having an average weight of about (6 kg) while the male weighs averagely (4 kg).
The juvenile bird and the adult mature Bald Eagle birds are mostly brown in color with a whitish colored head, large yellow hooked beaks and yellow cere and tail. Both the male and the female Bald Eagles are similar in feather clusters. However, the females are develops to larger sizes than the males with a large, hooked beak, irises and beak being bright yellow in color. The Bald Eagle bird has feather free legs with short, power toes, which have large talons. The talons are highly developed on the hind toes and are used for piercing the cardinal parts of the Bald Eagle birds prey while it holds it immobile with its front toes.

Nests of the Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle birds usually builds larger nest compared to those of the other species in the same family of eagles. Some of the largest nests exist in North America where the birds inhabit. These nest measures up to 13 feet (3.96 meters) deep, eight feet (2.43 meters) wide and weigh one ton or one metric ton.

The Region of the Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle bird is a raptor which originates from the areas in North America. The Bald Eagle bird usually inhabits the areas near large open water bodies with old-growth trees for nesting and abundant food supply. In these areas, the Bald Eagle bird are mostly always found near water, reservoirs, lakes, along rivers, or the coastal marshes or sea coast, and big lakes. The interior and northern populations may migrate in the winter months to open water.

Flying ability of the Bald Eagle

The Bald eagle can fly and reach heights up to 10,000 ft (3000 meters) in the sky. They soar for hours using thermal convention currents these. When flying the can reach speeds of 40 mph (65 km/hr).

Pesticides and status of the Bald Eagle

The Pesticides DDT almost wiped out the Bald Eagle bird and other birds. These chemicals were found in fish, which is the biggest part of the Bald Eagle bird's diet. It would make the Bald Eagle bird's eggshells very weak and fragile and because of this, they could not reproduce. In 1972 DDT use was heavily restricted, and because of this the Bald Eagle birds have come back in their population. As a result the Bald Eagle bird has upgraded from endangered to threatened and in June 28, 2007 the Department of Interior removed the American Bald Eagle bird off the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened. Bald Eagle birds are still going to be protected Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Feeding and eyesight of the Bald Eagle

For hunting for food the Bald Eagle birds have excellent eyesight, it is 4 times better than perfect humans eye site and the eyes give them excellent peripheral vision and binocular vision. The Bald Eagle bird is usually a tactful feeder that lives on mostly fish and can eat other small birds and rodents. It catches its prey by swooping down and snatching the fish from the water with its talons. They have been known to wade in shallow water and fish with its beak.