As many as 500,000 bald eagles once soared across North American skies. The last 300 years, though, has seen a huge decline in North America’s bald eagle population. Early colonists feared eagles could kill livestock or even carry away sheep. Many eagles were killed out of fear- or for sport. It started early. A report from the year 1668 recorded that many of an "infinite number" of eagles wintering in Casco Bay, Maine, were shot and fed to hogs. The bald eagle was declared the U.S. national symbol in 1782 but that did little to stop the carnage. Between 1917 and 1953, the Alaskan legislature endorsed bounties on bald eagles – seen as a threat to salmon runs – resulting in over 128,000 being killed. Even more recently, Wyoming ranchers paid helicopter pilots and rifleman 25 dollars for each eagle they killed. Much of this was driven by the fear that bald eagles took food people needed. The truth is, although eagles will hunt, they rarely eat something humans would want. They are primarily scavengers –like vultures they rely on finding dead animals for food.

Formal protection of the bald eagle began in the early twentieth century. The “Bald Eagle Protection Act” of 1940 made it illegal to kill or harm bald eagles with penalties of up to $10,000 and up to two years imprisonment. A new threat emerged following World War II. Factories that had supplied chemicals for the war effort began turning out fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides for farm use. DDT, the most famous of these chemicals, eradicated many insects but within a decade it had virtually destroyed the ability of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and brown pelicans to lay viable eggs. By the 1960’s only 400 breeding pairs of bald eagles remained in the lower 48 states. With the danger of extinction looming over the bald eagle and other species, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The act banned the use of DDT in the United States, increased penalties for harming eagles, required management plans for bald eagle nesting and roosting sites, and other protections. Since the early 70’s the bald eagle population has grown dramatically. By the year 2000, there were 6,300 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. Seasonal migrations like that into the Skagit River Valley temporarily increase the numbers of eagles in Washington by several thousand during the winter. Eagles are currently listed as “threatened” in Washington.

A Bald Eagle Timeline:

1782: The bald eagle adopted as the national symbol.

by late 1800s: Hunting of eagles, and overharvesting of timber, salmon runs, and bison herds, decimate habitat, food sources, and eagle populations.

1918: Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 offers first protection for bald eagles. This gave protection to migratory birds common to the Soviet Union, U.S., Canada, Japan, and Mexico.

1940: The Bald Eagle Protection Act makes it illegal to kill, or harass, or possess bald eagles (without a permit). Selling bald eagles or parts is also prohibited.

1950s and 1960s: The "green" revolution in agriculture ushers in the widespread use of chemicals and pesticides on crops. DDT interfered with the ability for eagles to deposit calcium into their growing egg shells – making them weak and subject to breakage.

1962: The book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, warns of the dangers of these new pesticides to animals and humans.

1967: The first version of the federal endangered species law lists the bald eagle as endangered in the lower 48 states.

1972: DDT is outlawed for use on crops in the United States. To this day, however, it continues to be manufactured in the U.S. and shipped to other countries for use in growing produce for U.S. markets.

1973: Passage of the Endangered Species Act. The bald eagle was listed as endangered in most of the lower 48 states except for Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Minnesota where it was listed as a "threatened" species. Agencies began conservation measures to protect critical breeding and wintering habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began an eagle breeding program to supplement wild populations.

Early 1980s: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under pressure from the National Wildlife Federation, succeeded in getting a nationwide ban passed on the use of lead shot in waterfowl hunting.

1988: Bald eagles were concluded to be breeding well enough in the wild for the federal breeding and reintroduction program to be discontinued.

1995: Bald eagle status downgraded to ‘threatened’ in all of the lower 48 states.

1999: US Fish and Wildlife advocates removal of the bald eagle from the federal endangered and threatened species list.

Eagle Facts

• Latin Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus – “Haliaeetus” is Latin for ‘sea eagles.’ ‘Leucocephalus’ means ‘white headed.’ The common name ‘bald eagle’ comes from colonial era. Then, bald, or “balled,” meant ‘white.’ So this was a ‘bald’ or white-headed eagle. The Stellars Sea Eagle, resident of the western Aleutian Islands and Eastern Siberian coast, is the closest relative to the bald eagle.


• Family: Accipitriidae (includes eagles, hawks, old world vultures, harriers)


• Size: Bald eagles weigh 9.5 to 15 pounds. The females tend to be larger than the males – as with most birds of prey. Their average height is about 3 feet, length up to 3.5 feet. Female wingspans can measure up to 92 inches (7.6 feet). Male wingspans can measure up to 82 inches (or 6.8 feet).


• Two subspecies: Some authorities recognize a northern subspecies (H. l. alascanus), widespread in Alaska and down to Maine and the Pacific Northwest, and a southern bald eagle (H. l. leucocephalus),which occurs throughout the U.S. but with the largest populations in Florida. The northern subspecies tends to be slightly larger than the southern subspecies.


• Life span: Some have been known to live up to 20 years in the wild. Several captive birds have lived to be 47. However, studies suggest that up to 90% of bald eagles die before reaching adulthood.


• Appearance: Juvenile bald eagles are mottled brown, with dark eyes, and dark bills. They are sometimes mistaken for golden eagles. Bald eagles become adults between age 4 and 6, getting a white head and tail, brown body, and yellow beak and eyes.


• Diet: Bald eagles scavenge for dead animals such as spawned salmon, winter killed deer or elk, or dead marine animals whenever possible. When food cannot be scavenged easily, they will hunt small fish, smaller birds or mammals. Bald eagles have been seen to work in tandem to hunt ducks in the air. Around water, bald eagles will snatch smaller fish from the surface. Eagles will also steal fish from the smaller osprey.


• Nesting season: Bald eagles leave the Skagit River in late February for coastal Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, the Yukon, and even Montana. They mate and raise chicks through the summer.


• Mating: Bald Eagles mate for life. If one dies, the other may find a new mate.


• Nesting and Rearing: Bald eagles lay two to three eggs each year. The eggs take about 35 days to hatch. Eaglets grow up to 4 oz. each day and eat up to 24 ounces of food each day. Bald eagle chicks turn dark brown and leave the nest at about 3 months of age. Ninety percent of juvenile eagles die before adulthood (at five years age). Bald eagles build the largest nests in the world. The largest nest recorded, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 9 feet across, 20 feet deep and weighed approximately 2 tons.


• Parenting: Bald eagles share parenting duties. Males do most of the scavenging and hunting when the chicks are young. Females do most of the brooding and feeding of the chicks. However, the male will take over these duties in order to give the female a rest.


• Migration: Eagles migrate over vast ranges to reach areas with abundant fish. The Skagit River bald eagles are a good example – some migrating thousands of miles each way from the Yukon River valley in Alaska to the Skagit River each fall and spring. For more information about the origin, movements, and population of Skagit River Bald Eagles check the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife report found through Other Links on the left.


• Flying: Bald eagles can carry a load of about half their weight for short flights to a feeding area. They can reach speeds of about 65 miles per hour in level flight, and 150 to 200 miles per hour in a dive. They fly to altitudes of 10,000 feet or more, and use natural thermal air currents to soar aloft (also called "kettling") for hours at a time.


• Resident Population on the Skagit: 10 to 20 birds nest on the Skagit River year round. The absence of spawning salmon during the summer limits the number of eagles that can survive here year round.


• Current Population in North America: As of 2000 there were about 6,300 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. About 100,000 bald eagles are estimated to nest in Alaska and Canada.


• Endangered Status: The bald eagle is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is listed as "threatened" in all of the continental United States except Alaska. The US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to remove the bald eagle from the Endangered Species list in 1999. As of 2004, the delisting proposal is still pending.


• Threats: Ingestion of pesticides; waterfowl contaminated by lead; the ingestion of lead shot and lead fishing sinkers; mercury, PCB’s, dioxins, and other chemicals that accumulate in fish; illegal hunting; deforestation of eagle roosting sites; flooding of bottomland hardwood ecosystems; destruction of nesting sites by humans; collisions with power lines and vehicles.


• Protection: Bald Eagles are protected under the Endangered Species Act (1973), the Bald Eagle Protection Act (1940), and the Migratory Bird Treaty (1918). It is illegal to hunt, kill, possess or sell any part of an eagle with fines of up to 10,000 dollars and 2 years imprisonment.


• Bald Eagles for Native American Use: Native American people are not allowed to hunt or kill eagles or other raptors. Unlike other people, however, they can obtain permits for the ceremonial use of eagle feathers or parts. These parts come from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which manages a repository for eagles killed in the wild. After studying them to obtain scientific data and cause of death, the bodies can be released to Native American tribes for use in their religious ceremonies.

 

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Modified 11/26/05