THE BALD EAGLE
SYMBOL OF AMERICAN PATRIOTISM






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BALD EAGLE FACTS

The Bald Eagle was declared our national symbol

in 1782 by a committee that included Benjamin Franklin

who had first suggested the turkey. The Philadelphia Zoo

has had successful hatchings in 1995

and 1996 with the chicks successfully placed for

adoption into wild nests in New England and Pennsylvania.


TAXONOMY

Class Aves, Order Falconiformes, Family Accipitridae,

Genus species Hiliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus.


PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

A fish eagle brown/black in color with a bright white

head and tail, large size between 30 to 40

inches, sharply down-hooked beak, large powerful

talons, bright yellow bill, feet and eyes. Typically for

raptors the female is larger than the male.


GEOGRAPHIC RANGE AND HABITAT

North America but as a fish hunting eagle generally

restricted to waterways such as the coasts,

rivers and lakes. Most plentiful in Alaska

with limited populations elsewhere.


SOCIAL HABITS

Often found in mated pairs that perform aerial

acrobatics and, where food is plentiful, will gather

in groups. They will "attack" other fish hunters

such as the osprey causing the bird to drop its

catch and the eagle to recover it in mid- flight.


REPRODUCTION

Eagles mate for life and return to same territory

each year for breeding, construct a sizable nest of

twigs known as an aerie which is lined with

softer material, female lays 2 eggs which incubate

for 31 to 46 days, hatched young are fed

by both female and male and stay in nest

for 10 to 11 weeks.


DIET

In the wild: fish, carrion, birds and small mammals.

In the Zoo: fish and raw meat.


CONSERVATION

Protected by federal law. Endangered in the Eastern US

although recovering from its lowest population

after the banning of DDT. In this area

there are nesting sites in Pennsylvania, New

Jersey and along the Chesapeake Bay.



Information obtained from


The Zoological Society of Philadelphia







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Changes last made by FW on: Monday June 21, 1999

This web site was created & designed by Friday Wisher©
1998 Wisher Creations, which began May 28, 1998.