endangered animals

THE BALD EAGLE
by Justin

Introduction
The bald eagle (Haliaeetus Leococephalus) is the national emblem of the United States Of America. The bald eagle is also seen on money and many posters. I will be talking about the physical appearance, its habitat, food, enemies, reproduction and babies, why it's endangered, its behavior, and more interesting facts about the bald eagle.

Physical Appearance
The bald eagle is a very beautiful bird because of its colours and shape. The female bald eagle is slightly larger than the male bald eagle. The bald eagle's wingspan is about 7-8 feet! Young bald eagles are mottled brown and looks much like a golden eagle or a hawk, they are called immatures. The bald eagle has a very sharp yellow beak for biting fish and other small creatures. A mature bald eagle is mottled with a white tail and head.

Habitat
The bald eagle is only found in North America. They are found around seacoasts, forests, valleys, mountain regions, lakes and rivers.

Food
The bald eagle mainly eats fish but they eat small mammals too. They eat ravens, crows, snakes, mice, and rabbits. They also eat larger mammals like deer and elk. The bald eagle will also try to steal other bald eagles food.

Enemies
The bald eagles only enemy is a human shooting for feathers.

Reproduction/Babies
In spring the bald eagle lays 2-3 eggs. After a couple of months the eggs will hatch and babies will come out called eaglets. The chicks that are more aggressive and takes more food will live.

Behavior
The bald eagle will only build nests in high trees. The material they use is sticks and mosses. The nest weighs up to two tons almost the weight of a small car! the weight of a small car!

Why It Is Endangered
The population of the bald eagle was very low but during the 1960's to 1998 the population grew by over 5000.

Other Interesting Facts
Some other interesting facts are the bald eagle can fly at speeds of 30 M.P.H. They can dive at speeds of 100 M.P.H. The population now is about 80.000 to 110.000. The scientific name for the bald eagle is Haliaeetus Leococephalus.

Conclusion
Thank you for letting me do a report on the bald eagle. I feel like researching other birds now!

Dutch translation will follow later