Scientific Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Class/Order: Aves/falconiformes

Family Classification: Bird

Status: The bald eagle’s only found in North America. In February, 1978, the bald eagle was listed as as endangered in 43 states, and threatened in the others. Then, in August, 1995, the species was reclassified as threatened in the others because the number of eagles had increased, but it’s still in danger.

Biome: forests, mountains,, and fresh water. The bald eagle’s habitat is in rocky, wooded coasts, lakesides, and riverbanks in the United States and Canada.

Description: The adult is completely dark brown except for the head and the tail which are white. The white feathered head makes it appear bald. Eagles are some of the biggest birds of all. Their wingspread is up to 8 feet across. Their eyes and beak are yellow.

Number: In 1963 there were only 417 known breeding pairs. In 1975 up to 60,000 total bald eagles were estimated, with most in Canada in Alaska where they’re not endangered. There were about 4,452 breeding pairs of bald eagles in 1994.

Lifespan: Bald eagles may live up to 40 years or longer in captivity, and up to around 30 years in the wild.

Food: Primary - fish; Secondary - other small animals like birds, turtles, and rabbits.

Reproduction: They choose a partner for life and raise one or two new eagle chicks each year. They start laying eggs at age 5. They may nest on the edge of rivers, lakes, or beaches. They reuse the same nest each year built in tops of tall trees. Their stick nests may weigh over 1 ton, be 6 ft. wide and 6 ft. deep.

Threats: Their main enemy is man. They are in danger because people have been poisoning them, not meaning to. This is one way they do: they put pesticides in fields and it sinks to the rivers and the fish get poisoned and the eagles eat the fish and the eagle and its eggs get poisoned as well. We also cut down forests where they live. They also get caught in leg hold traps.

Migration: Eagles migrate to breed in the Yukon Territory, Alaska, Canada, Great Lakes region, Pacific northwest, and warmer areas like California and Florida. They move south for the winter to areas like Florida because there’s lots of fish and waterfowl on the open water.

As our national bird, the bald eagle is protected from hunters fy federal law. We currently have a pair of bald eagles on exhibit in the San Antonio Zoo. We’d like to see zoo habitats be made more like the bald eagle’s natural habitat.

Written by: students