Bald Eagle
The bald eagle is the national bird for the United States and is the only eagle unique to North America. The word “bald” is actually comes from an old English word “balde” which means “white,” not hairless. The bald eagle is found over most of North America, from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico. There are an estimated 50,000 bald eagles in the United States, with 80 percent of them found in Alaska.
On June 20, 1782 the bald eagle was chosen as the emblem of the United States of America, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks.
It is said the eagle was used as a national emblem because, at one of the first battles of the Revolution (which occurred early in the morning) the noise of the struggle awoke the sleeping eagles on the heights and they flew from their nests and circled about over the heads of the fighting men, all the while giving vent to their raucous cries. “They are shrieking for Freedom,” said the patriots.
(Just a side note, not everyone wanted the bald eagle to be the national bird. Benjamin Franklin, for example, wanted the national bird of America to be the turkey. The turkey… Can you imagine the effect this would have on Thanksgiving?)
Although great and mighty, the bald eagle was seriously declining in numbers in the early 20th century, mainly due to over-hunting. Things got so bad that on July 4,1976 (America’s 200th birthday), the Wildlife Service officially listed the bald eagle as a national endangered species. However, things have gotten much better in the last few years. Eagle populations have greatly increased and were recently taken off the endangered species list in 1995.
Check out these neat facts on the bald eagle:
- Bald eagles may use the same nest year after year, adding more twigs and branches each time. One nest was found that had been used for 34 years and weighed over two tons!
- The bald eagle can fly 20 to 40 mph in normal flight and can dive at speeds over 100 mph.
