U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Bald Eagle Biology Breeding bald eagles typically lay one Distinguished in the adult plumage by to three eggs once a year, and they a white head and white tail, bald eagles hatch after about 35 days. The young are powerful, brown birds that may eagles are flying within three months weigh 14 pounds and have a wingspan and are on their own about a month of 8 feet. Male eagles are smaller, later. However, disease, lack of food, weighing as much as 10 pounds and bad weather, or human interference can have a wingspan of 6 feet. Sometimes kill many eaglets. Recent studies show confused with golden eagles, bald that approximately 70 percent survive eagles are mostly dark brown until they their first year of life. are four to five years old and acquire their characteristic coloring. There is The Plight of the Bald Eagle a distinction between the two species, When America adopted the bald though, even during the early years. eagle as the national symbol in 1782, Only the tops of the bald eagle’s legs anecdotal accounts stated the country have feathers. The legs of golden eagles may have had as many as 100,000 are feathered all the way down. nesting eagles. The first major decline of the species probably began in the Bald eagles live near rivers, lakes, and mid to late 1800’s, coinciding with the marshes where they can find fish, their decline of waterfowl, shorebirds, and staple food. As their populations grow, other prey. however, bald eagles are expanding their range, even nesting in urban Although they primarily eat fish areas. Bald eagles will also feed on and carrion, bald eagles used to be waterfowl, turtles, rabbits, snakes, and considered marauders that preyed on other small animals and carrion. chickens, lambs, and domestic livestock. Consequently, the large raptors Bald eagles require a good food base, were shot in an effort to eliminate a perching areas, and nesting sites. Their perceived threat. Coupled with the Jim Hudgins/USFWS habitat includes estuaries, large lakes, loss of nesting habitat, bald eagle reservoirs, rivers, and some seacoasts. populations declined. A North American species with a In winter, the birds congregate near historic range from Alaska and Canada open water in tall trees for spotting In 1940, noting that the species was to northern Mexico, the bald eagle is an prey and night roosts for sheltering. “threatened with extinction,” Congress Endangered Species Act success story. passed the Bald Eagle Protection Bald eagles usually choose the tops of Act, which prohibited killing, selling, Forty years ago, our national symbol large trees to build nests, which they or possessing the species. A 1962 was in danger of extinction throughout typically use and enlarge each year. amendment added the golden eagle, most of its range. Habitat destruction However, nests have also been found on and the law became the Bald and and degradation, illegal shooting,and cliffs, the ground, and even on human- Golden Eagle Protection Act. the contamination of its food source, made structures like cell phone towers. largely as a consequence of DDT, Shortly after World War II, DDT was decimated the eagle population. Nests may reach 10 feet across and hailed as a new pesticide to control weigh a half ton. Bald eagles may mosquitoes and other insects. However, The federal government’s banning of also have one or more alternate nests DDT and its residues washed into DDT and related pesticides, habitat within their breeding territory. The nearby waterways, where aquatic protection afforded by the Endangered birds travel great distances but usually plants and fish absorbed it. Bald eagles, Species Act, and conservation actions return to breeding grounds within 100 in turn, were poisoned with DDT when taken by the American public have miles of the place where they were they ate the contaminated fish. The helped bald eagles make a remarkable raised. Bald eagles may live 15 to 25 chemical interfered with the ability of recovery. years in the wild, longer in captivity. the birds to produce strong eggshells. As a result, their eggs had shells so thin that they often broke during incubation or otherwise failed to hatch. DDT also affected other species such as peregrine falcons and brown pelicans. Some other pesticides related to DDT are suspected to have caused increased mortality, in addition to the harmful effects on reproduction.

By 1963, with only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles known to exist, the species was in danger of extinction.

The Road Back As the dangers of DDT became known, in large part due to the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, the Environmental Protection Agency took the historic and, at the time, controversial step of banning the use of DDT and some related pesticides in the United States. That was in 1972, and it was the first step on the road to recovery for the bald eagle.

In 1967, the Secretary of Interior listed bald eagles south of the 40th parallel under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. Following enactment of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Service listed the species in 1978 as endangered Tom Koerner/USFWS throughout the lower 48 states, except in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Endangered Species Act. Thus, on June Although the Service removed the Washington, and Wisconsin where it 28, 2007, the Service announced the bald eagle from the list of threatened was designated as threatened. recovery of our nation’s symbol and and endangered species under the removal from the list of threatened and Endangered Species Act, the bird The species was not listed as endangered species. continues to be protected by the threatened or endangered in Hawaii Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the because it does not occur there, or in Continued Population Growth Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Alaska because populations there have In 2016, the Service published the bald Both laws prohibit killing, selling or remained robust. eagle population status report as part otherwise harming eagles, their nests, of a Programmatic Environmental or eggs. Listing the species as endangered Impact Statement. In that report which provided the springboard for the analyzed data from 2009, the bald eagle The Service developed guidelines Service and its partners to accelerate population in the lower 48 status was to help landowners avoid disturbing the pace of recovery through captive estimated to be 72,434 individuals, eagles and encourage beneficial breeding programs, reintroduction including 30,548 breeding pairs. conservation practices. efforts, law enforcement, and nest site protection during the breeding season. Then in 2021, the Service published For more information on the recovery a technical update that provided the of bald eagles, please visit https://www. Population Milestones newest estimates for the bald eagle fws.gov/birds/management/managed- In July 1995, the Service announced population in the lower 48 states for species/eagle-management.php that bald eagles in the lower 48 states the period 2018-2019, totaling 316,700 had recovered to the point where those individuals, which included 71,467 populations previously considered breeding pairs. endangered could be reclassified to the less critical category of threatened. What Lies Ahead The recovery of the bald eagle is one U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Then in 2007, the Service estimated of the most well-known conservation Migratory Bird Program there were at least 9,789 nesting success stories of all time. The Service 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: MB pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous continues to work with our partners in Falls Church, VA 22041 United States. Bald eagles staged a state and federal agencies, tribes, non- remarkable population rebound and government organizations and private 703/358-1714 recovered to the point that they no landowners to ensure that our nation’s www.fws.gov/birds/ longer needed the protection of the symbol flourishes. Febuary 2021