Length: Male bald eagles generally measure about 36 inches head to tail, and have a wingspan of about 80 inches. They typically weigh 7 to 10 pounds at maturity. The females are larger, with some reaching 14 pounds and having wingspans up to 8 feet.
Color: Dark brown. After the third year the head, neck and tail are pure white. The feet are bright yellow, and are not feathered, as the golden eagle.

   Eagles are loosely divided into four types; sea or fish eagles, serpent or snake eagles, true or booted eagles, and harpy or buteonine eagles. The bald eagle is a member of the family of Ernes, or sea-eagles. It is nearly as big as the golden eagle but is not feathered to the toes, and its head, neck and tail, after the third year, are perfectly white. Its habitat is determined by its diet, which is mainly fish. This is for the most part picked up dead or dying on the surface of the water. The bald eagle will attack the fish-hawk, and compel him to drop what he has caught. When fish are not obtainable they eat carrion, or kill small birds and mammals.

   They are not migratory, except from the icebound north. They build a nest of sticks in an elevated position, and this nest, repaired from season to season, is occupied by the same pair of bird for years. They usually lay two eggs, and the generations of young live in the same neighborhood as the parent birds.

   Bald eagles are believed to live 30 years in the wild, and even longer in captivity.

   Bald eagles have few natural enemies, but they need an environment of quiet isolation; tall, mature trees, and clean waters. Although primarily fish and carrion eaters, bald eagles were once grouped with other raptors and seen as marauders that killed chickens, lambs, and other domestic livestock. As a consequence, large numbers were shot or poisoned by farmers, ranchers, and others.

   Bald eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 in all areas of the United States south of the 40th parallel, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Federal and state government agencies, along with private organizations, successfully sought to alert the public about the eagle's plight and to protect its habitat.

   Only a handful of species have fought their way back from the United States' endangered species list. The California gray whale, the American alligator, and the bald eagle are a few. Once endangered in all of the lower 48 states, the bald eagle's status was upgraded to "threatened" in 1994, two decades after the banning of DDT and the passing of laws to protect both eagles and their nesting trees.

   This eagle was chosen June 20, 1782 as the emblem of our country, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist on this continent only.

The Eagle, Our National Emblem

   The Eagle became the National emblem in 1782 when the great seal of the United States was adopted. The Great Seal shows a wide-spread eagle, faced front, having on his breast a shield with thirteen perpendicular red and white stripes, surmounted by a blue field with the same number of stars. In his right talon the eagle holds an olive branch, in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, and in his beak he carries a scroll inscribed with the motto: "E Pluribus Unum." The Eagle appears in the Seals of many of our States, on most of our gold and silver coinage, and is used a great deal for decorative patriotic purposes.