Bald Eagle

By Tony Sakr 5A

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................1 Habitat..2 Diet3 Extinction.4 Appearance...5 Conclusion....6 Bibliography.....7

Introduction

The fascinating bald eagle is a bird of prey found mostly in the United States. It is their most valuable bird and their national symbol. Bald refers to the white feathered head and does not mean hairless. The bald eagle is a fearless bird which causes fear in others. In this report, I am going to talk about its habitat, diet, does it face extinction, and finally what it looks like.

Habitat

The bald eagle lives mainly in the United States. In fact, 50% of the worlds bald eagles live in Alaska and 30% live in the Northwest U.S and Canada. Bald eagles mostly live near large bodies of water and love to be in areas that have fish around them. They build their nests near the top of tall trees and high cliff tops. The nests of the bald eagles are the largest nests of any North American bird, and their nests are the heaviest nests in North America weighing two tons! A pair of bald eagles has only one nest which they guard very carefully.

Diet

Now, we are going to talk about its diet. Scientists prove they steal food from smaller ones for fun or sport. Their most important food is fish and salmon. In winter they eat rabbits, snakes and waterfowl. They prefer small animals and waterfowl in winter because it is hard to catch fish when ice covers the water. They catch their prey with their sharp claws or beaks, and use their amazing eyesight to help catch them. Bald eagles also eat dead or injured fish and small animals. The bald eagle always tries to find food to feed their young.

Extinction

The biggest reason that the bald eagles are facing extinction is because people are moving into their territory. People started hunting and fishing which decreased the bald eagles food supply. Also, people started cutting down trees so there was no place for bald eagles to live and reproduce. Farmers began using chemicals to protect their crops from insects and these chemicals were poisonous to bald eagles. In 1782 there lived over 100,000 bald eagles and now there are only about 12,000 in the United States. Conservation efforts and many projects are really trying to help them to live. In America it is against the law to kill a bald eagle. By 1963 there was 417 nesting pairs and now they decreased by a lot.

Appearance

The bald eagle has a very unique appearance. Their enormous wing span is 7-8 feet wide. The bald eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the whole world. The minimum weight for the adult bald eagle is eight pounds and the maximum weight is fifteen pounds. Usually the ones in captivity weigh fifteen pounds because they take care of them a lot. The bald eagle is three feet tall which is tall for a bird. The female is larger than the male bald eagle because the female have to give birth to reproduce bald eagles. Their bills, and legs are deep yellow, and their back and breast are black. When they fly their wings are V-shaped.

Conclusion

I think the bald eagle is the most amazing, and most fabulous bird I ever learned about. The three things that I like about the outstanding bald eagle are that it is fearless, large, and has wonderful feathers on its body. In the late 1700s, the new United States government had a vote between the bald eagle and the wild turkey to be the national symbol of the United States. The bald eagle beat the wild turkey to be the national symbol. I hope I see a bald eagle before they become extinct!

Bibliography

Info about bald eagles, go to: http://www.oodlesonbaldeagles.com All about the American bald eagle go to: http://www.baldeagleinfo.com Fast facts about bald eagles, go to: http://wildlifedepartment.com