American Bald Eagles, Our National Bird

My love for the american bald eagle goes beyond the average appreciation of them, I have them everywhere and even have a chest tattoo of one. I feel they are proud and majestic as they soar so high while looking for food. A few miles away there is a breeding pair going on their third year together, they live off the side of a lake. Last year they had two young babies that were about to fly when I was there.

Our fore fathers that created the Unites States must have loved the eagle also, making it the national bird and even going farther to put the bald eagle symbol on our national seal. It was a symbol of pride and strength with them, the eagle will persevere and so will we.

This Beautiful and large bird of prey ended up on the endangered list from high power lines and foolish people shooting at them for no reason other then to kill something. Even farmers saw them as a risk to their livestock and shot them. It would have been a real shame to let this bird disappear forever, so we started to protect it and we helped with breeding to bring the numbers back up to acceptable levels. While it is still on the protected list, it's numbers in the wild are increasing.

The average life span of an american Bald Eagle is 15 to 25 years and it is common for some to live into their 30's depending on the conditions where the live. The female is slightly larger then the male with an average body length of 36 inches, the wingspan of a Bald Eagle is 70 to 90 inches. With a body weight of around 10 to 14 pounds they can easily lift 4 pounds of food.

The American Bald Eagle does not have vocal cords but it emits a loud shrill through a bone in the head, if you was to hear it you would never forget it. This noise is to ward off other eagles that this is his area and it will be protected, it is also used to strengthen relationships with it's mate.  It usually lives off a body of water, the Bald Eagle food consists mostly of fish. It has eyeballs close to the size of humans and can see four times clearer with perfect vision.

The bald eagle is not bald at all, it has a gorgeous head of white feathers with a black feathered body. The chick is born with white fur down and then grows brownish feathers, the head does not turn white until the bird matures.

 The bald eagle has a closely related golden eagle in the family, this bird has a golden brown head and is similar to the bald eagle.This golden eagle is even harder to find then the bald version.

 My love and adoration for these birds is well deserved, they are beautiful creatures.

When taking Bald eagle photos you need a good telephoto lens and fast camera, it is best if you can locate a bald eagles food source. They will be close to this area and you may be lucky enough to catch them hunting. The wingspan of a bald eagle would make a good photo.