Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
A seven-foot wingspan, a white head against grey sky, and an opportunist's appetite. The national bird of the United States is a fish hawk, scavenger, and pirate.
Browse the Woodcut Wild shop →Habitat
Bald eagles live near large bodies of open water — coastlines, big rivers, lakes, and reservoirs — and roost in mature trees within easy flight of fishing grounds. They are most common in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest but now nest in every U.S. state except Hawaii.
Behavior
Adults hunt fish from perches and shallow stoops to the water's surface, but they are equally happy to scavenge carrion, raid duck flocks in winter, and steal kills from osprey. Pairs mate for life and reuse the same massive stick nest for decades, adding to it each year until some weigh over a ton.
Marginalia
- Juvenile bald eagles are mottled brown for four to five years before the white head appears.
- Their eyesight is roughly four to five times sharper than a human's.
- The species was nearly wiped out by DDT in the mid-20th century — fewer than 500 pairs remained in the lower 48 by 1963.
- The name comes from the Old English "balde," meaning white, not hairless.
