American Bald Eagle Photo

American Bald Eagles are beautiful and majestic birds, and there are lots of American Bald Eagle Photo sites and pages available online for those interested in this species. Although the Bald Eagle has been the national symbol of the United States for more than 200 years, the bird has been severely obliterated by poaching and pesticide contamination. This resulted in a dramatic fall in Bald Eagle population in the mid-1900s. By the 1960s, there were less than 500 nesting pairs, compared to about 200,000 pairs in the early 1700s. Thus, their numbers dropped to endangered level.

In the 1970s, legislative measures were taken that proved efficient in saving the Bald Eagle from extinction and boosting their population significantly. The DDT pesticide was banned in the USA in 1972, and in Canada in 1973. In 1995, the species was removed from the endangered list. There were more than 10,000 nesting pairs in 2007, compared to 500 in the 1960s. All these measures have staved off, and hopefully, prevented the grave day when an American Bald Eagle Photo would be the only remaining opportunity to visualize this bird.

American Bald Eagles are called “bald” not because their heads are featherless. “Bald” is a derived word from old English, and it stands for “white”. The feathering on the head of an adult Eagle, as well as on the tail and wing tips, is white. The rest of the body is brown. The beak and eyes are yellow in mature species, and dark brown in young birds. It is not until they reach absolute sexual maturity (4-5 years old) that they take on this color. Young Eagles are totally brown, and hence they are often mixed up with Golden Eagles. In order to better see the difference, you can choose a good American Bald Eagle Photo website with photographs of Eagles of different ages and types posted on it.

The American Bald Eagle feeds mostly on fish. For this reason, these birds prefer to stay near water. Their ration also includes rabbits, hares, lizards, turtles, snakes, rodents, ducks, etc. Bald Eagles are fond of sea fish, such as trout and salmon; therefore, there are lots of them patrolling sea coasts. They usually swoop down and seize fish from water with their sharp and strong talons. Their keen vision allows them to spot prey from high above. They rarely dive down, and prefer to descent gradually to the ground. It can be really fascinating to visualize an American Bald Eagle Photo or better watch an American Bald Eagle video in the process of hunting.