The Bald Eagle

1. The Bald Eagle By: Damian Espinosa

2. The Description Description Instantly recognizable as the national emblem of the United States, the bald eagle has long been a key symbol in the human cultures of the Americas. The second largest North American bird of prey after the Californian condor (2), it is also the only eagle solely native to North America (5). This majestic species is named for the conspicuous white head, which, contrary to the name, is in fact fully feathered, and contrasts strongly with the dark brown body and wings. The tail is also white, and the legs, eye and large beak are bright yellow (2)(3)(5)(6). The wings are long and broad, and the tail rounded. The female bald eagle is larger than the male, but otherwise similar in appearance (2)(3)(5). The call of this species is relatively weak, seeming rather inadequate for such a large bird (3)

3. On June 20, 1782, The Bald Eagle, or American Eagle, became the National Emblem of the United States by the Second Continental Congress because of its long life, great strength, majestic looks, and belief that it was unique to North America. The wild turkey was runner-up. The Great Seal of the United States was adopted at this time and shows a wide-spread eagle, faced front, breast covered with a shield of thirteen perpendicular red and white stripes, with a blue field with the same number of stars; right talon holding an olive branch; left talon holding a bundle of thirteen arrows; and beak carrying a scroll with the motto: E Pluribus Unum. The eagle appears in many state seals, on gold and silver coinage, and used for decorative patriotic purposes. Before Europeans settled in America, there may have been about 500,000 bald eagles. As the human population grew, the eagle population declined, partly because they were competing for the same food and humans had weapons to their advantage. There was a sharp decline in the late 1800s. At this time, European settlers spun tales of eagles carrying away full-grown sheep, and even human babies, and they viewed them as potential livestock predators. This is not possible because the lifting power of an adult eagle is no more than about 4 or 5 pounds. Their scavenger image, powerfulness, and aggressiveness contribute to the negative image some people have of them. .

4. North America Bald eagles resides in North America, from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico near swamps, lakes, oceans and rivers where there are lots of fish, clean waters, and tall trees for nesting and roosting. They live strictly in North America and every state except for Hawaii. The northwest coast of North America is where the flourish most, partly because of the salmon dead or dying fish are an important part of their food supply. In 1996, more than 40 were observed wintering along the Columbia River north of the Hanford town site. Thousands live in Alaska and other parts of the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes region, and Chesapeake Bay. They also inhabit Florida and along Atlantic coastline. They thrive in quiet isolation.

5. The Bald Eagles Habitat • HabitatThe Bald eagle is one such birds that is quite affected by human activities. This large and magnificent bird prefers habitat close to seacoast or even other water bodies such as lakes. The Bald eagle love to be in areas that have an abundance of fish. It is also generally spotted in areas that are free from human interference. The Bald eagle is often seen in areas of North America. It prefers deciduous forest. This bird selects hardwood trees for roosting and nesting. During the breeding season, the Bald eagle shifts its location towards south from the northern areas of Canada or Alaska. This is in search of fish for food and this move usually occurs by late October. The Bald eagle particular chooses its habitat in relation to the nests it wishes to build. These birds build large nests, which have a depth of about 2 feet and a width of about 5 feet. It lines the nests with a variety of things such as twigs, grass, moss etc.

6. DDT • DDT means this DichlorodiphenyTrichloroethane • And here's some information for DDT First synthesized in 1874, DDT's insecticidal properties were not discovered until 1939, that’s pretty cool and it was used with great success in the second half of World War II to control malaria and typhus among civilians and troops. The Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods."[2] After the war, DDT was used as an agricultural insecticide, and soon its production and use skyrocketed.[3]oh yeh DDT was spreaded in war world 2

7. Here is a origami Bald Eagle. • It is really cool huh. • And I have more stuff to show you.

8. The bald Eagle Habitat Map • This is where the bald eagle lives.

9. The Bald Eagles Wingspan My wingspan for the cool awesome bald eagle is 6 feet long that is a long wingspan

10. Hunting • The bald eagle hunts in the winter and fall • And they eat salt water too • Also the bald eagle lives in North America The bald eagle eats fish and waterfowl

11. How tall the bald eagle And how does the bald eagle lay eggs • 6.4 feet that’s how tall the Bald eagle is too • MA and Pa eagle build a large nest so they can have enough room too lay there eggs Ma and Pa eagle build a large nest consisting of a structural understory of twigs and limbs. The nest is usually high up in a tree, sometimes on a cliff, or even on the ground, but generally the higher the better. The nest has a bowl-like depression in the center. The Ma and Pa fill the depression with grass and straw to make a level surface, and in the middle of that they excavate a smaller cup.

12. This is how the bald eagle is doing right now • PORTLAND, Maine — Bald eagles, bouncing back after years of decline, are swaggering forth with an appetite for great cormorant chicks that threatens to wipe out that bird population in the United States. • The eagles, perhaps finding less fish to eat, are flying to Maine's remote rocky islands where they've been raiding the only known nesting colonies of great cormorants in the U.S. Snatching waddling chicks from the ground and driving adults from their nests, the eagles are causing the numbers of the glossy black birds to decline from more than 250 pairs to 80 pairs since 1992. • "They're like thugs. They're like gang members. They go to these offshore islands where all these seabirds are and the birds are easy picking," said Brad Allen, a wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. "These young eagles are harassing the bejesus out of all the birds, and the great cormorants have been taking it on the chin." • The recovery of the bald eagle population has been well-documented, growing from 400 pairs to more than 10,000 pairs in the lower 48 states since the 1960s. But the revival has changed the natural order of things in Maine and other states, threatening other bird species.

13. How DDT hurts the bald eagle The Pennsylvania officials just announced success with their program to re-establish the state’s bald eagle population. But it’s a shame that such welcome news is being tainted by oft-repeated myths about the great bird’s near extinction. In its July 4 article reporting that the number of bald eagle pairs in Pennsylvania had increased from 3 in 1983 to 100 for the first time in over a century, the Associated Press reached into its file of bald eagle folklore and reported, “DDT poisoned the birds, killing some adults and making the eggs of those that survived thin. The thin eggs dramatically reduced the chances of eaglets surviving to adulthood. DDT was banned in 1972. The next year, the Endangered Species Act passed and the bald eagles began their dramatic recovery.” While the AP acknowledged the fact that bald eagle populations “were considered a nuisance and routinely shot by hunters, farmers and fishermen” – spurring a 1940 federal law protecting bald eagles – the AP underplayed the significance of hunting and human encroachment and erroneously blamed DDT for the eagles’ near demise. As early as 1921, the journal Ecology reported that bald eagles were threatened with extinction – 22 years before DDT production even began. According to a report in the National Museum Bulletin, the bald eagle reportedly had vanished from New England by 1937 – 10 years before widespread use of the pesticide.

14. Enemies • Some of the enemies for the bald eagle is humans, and man made stuff like ddt for example.