The Bald Eagle became the National emblem in 1782 when the great seal of the United States was adopted. The Great Seal shows a wide-spread eagle, faced front, having on his breast a shield with thirteen perpendicular red and white stripes, surmounted by a blue field with the same number of stars. In his right talon the eagle holds an olive branch, in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, and in his beak, he carries a scroll inscribed with the motto: “E Pluribus Unum.” The olive branch stands for the power to make peace, While the arrows stand for the power to make war. The bald eagle was chosen because of its long life, great strength, and majestic looks, and because it was believed to exist only on this continent at the time.
The Eagle appears in the Seals of many of our States, on most of our gold and silver coinage, and is used a great deal for decorative patriotic purposes.
Bald eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 in all areas of the United States south of the 40th parallel, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The Endangered Species Act was signed into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon. This landmark legislation is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and important wildlife conservation laws in the world. Federal and state government agencies, along with private organizations, successfully sought to alert the public about the eagle’s plight and to protect its habitat. On July 4, 1976, the US Fish and Wildlife Service officially listed the bald eagle as a national endangered species.
Until 1995, the bald eagle had been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 43 of the 48 lower states, and listed as threatened in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington and Oregon. In July of 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states to threatened.
Only a handful of species have fought their way back from the United States’ endangered species list; the California gray whale, the American alligator, and the bald eagle are a few. Once endangered in all the lower 48 states, the bald eagle’s status was upgraded to “threatened” in 1995, two decades after the banning of DDT and the passing of laws to protect both eagles and their nesting trees. Bald eagle populations rebounded from fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states to over 71,000 nesting pairs (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2020). Bald eagles were among the first species offered protection from the newly minted Endangered Species Act, and their successful recovery was indeed contingent on protective legislature and the unified efforts of organizations and individuals to protect them.
June 28, 2007 – The Department of Interior took the American bald eagle off the endangered species list.
A Few Interesting Bald Eagle Facts
Despite their prominence as a symbol of American culture, many people know very little about these birds! Here are a few interesting facts worth noting.
- Bald eagles, like many predatory birds, mate for life. Once they’ve found a mate, the female tends the nest while the male hunts and provides for the chicks. The male will relieve the female for breaks often.
- Bald eagles live significantly longer than most other birds—especially birds of their size. Most wild eagles will live for more than two decades! Some can live beyond 30 years!
- A bald eagle nest is massive! They’re usually between two and four feet deep, and about four to five feet wide. Even more impressive? The nests weigh hundreds of pounds!
- Female bald eagles are bigger than males—as much as 25% bigger in many cases. Scientists still aren’t sure why there’s such a size discrepancy. Most males have a wingspan of 6.4’ while most females have a wingspan of 7.2’.
- Bald eagles can swim and will do so when they’ve caught a fish that’s too large to pluck out of the water. Instead, they’re known to drag their kills to shore first.
The most interesting fact about bald eagles? They’re not bald! In fact, young eagles have full-feathered heads that are brown. It’s not until they reach maturity that the features turn white, giving them the “bald” appearance.