The Bald Eagle

The US half dollar, quarter, and the Great Seal of the United States all share an image of the bald eagle, wings spread majestically. If left up to Benjamin Franklin, however, our native turkey would have sat front and center on the Great Seal.

If left up to Benjamin Franklin, however, our native turkey would have sat front and center on the Great Seal.

In a letter to his daughter, Franklin spoke ill of the newly chosen symbol of freedom and strength, writing: “I wish that the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country, he is a Bird of bad moral Character, he does not get his Living honestly... too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk, and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish… the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him… he is a rank coward… He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest [of America].  For the Truth, the turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original Native of America, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier . . . who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.” 

[Read this: Importing hippos to solve a meat shortage.]

While Franklin might have been right about the nature of the eating habits of the new emblem of the colonies, today’s image of a fattened Thanksgiving turkey falls short as an icon of freedom.  Conversely, the bald eagle, with its distinguished white head and tail feathers, exudes freedom as it soars ten thousand feet up, while a turkey does well to flutter down ten feet from a tree branch. Equally impressive, the bald eagle, now synonymous with American freedom and omnipotence, has fought just as mightily for its existence as the colonists fought for their new country.

Conversely, the bald eagle, with its distinguished white head and tail feathers, exudes freedom as it soars ten thousand feet up, while a turkey does well to flutter down ten feet from a tree branch. 

Regarding the eagle’s moral character, Franklin was wrong.  Living to the ripe old age of 25 in the wild, eagles mate for life and only consider a new partner after the death of a mate.  Unlike Homo sapiens, female eagles are always larger than the males, weighing around fourteen pounds with wingspans of up to eight feet, while males weigh about ten pounds with wingspans of six feet.  To accommodate those large wings, an eagle nest may reach ten feet across and weigh half a ton.

[Read this: The first federal law to protect wildlife.]

Since their main source of food is fish, eagles typically construct their nests in the tops of trees near bodies of water.  Unlike in our mobile society, young adult eagles return to within a hundred miles of where they were born to nest and rear their own eaglets. 

Healthy forests abounded in early America, as did healthy populations of bald eagles, until the early 1900s, when eagles were killed in large numbers by farmers and hunters moving into the formerly eagle-friendly wilderness, for sport, to reduce competition for fish, and because they were thought to prey on domestic birds.  Due to this persecution, eagles were “threatened with extinction,” prompting Congress to pass the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940. This act outlawed the killing and disturbing of eagles, as well as the possession of feathers, eggs, and nests.  Even with this new act in place, the eagle population continued to decline in the lower US.

Due to this persecution, eagles were “threatened with extinction,” prompting Congress to pass the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940. This act outlawed the killing and disturbing of eagles, as well as the possession of feathers, eggs, and nests. 

By the 1960s, bald eagle numbers had again dropped substantially due to greater habitat destruction, continued hunting, and the ingestion of DDT, widely used after World War II to kill mosquitoes and other pests.  Concentrated in the fish and waterfowl the eagles consumed, DDT weakened the eagle’s eggshells, causing them to crack before the chicks could hatch.  To further protect eagle populations, the US banned the use of DDT in 1972, and the bald eagle was placed on the Endangered Species List in 1978. 

With all the necessary protections in place, bald eagle populations began to rise over the next 29 years, resulting in the species’ upgrade from endangered to merely threatened in 1995 and removal from the list altogether in 2007.  Impressively, the number of eagles surveyed in the lower 48 states increased from 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to more than 16,000 nesting pairs by 2016—another American conservation victory!

Because of its own Bald Eagle Project, Louisiana now boasts the third largest population of eagles, after Florida and Virginia. The State Department of Wildlife’s conservation project successfully monitors bald eagle nests throughout the state and has seen those numbers climb from seven nests in the early 1970s to 647 in 2015. 

[Read next: Why the pelican on the Louisiana state seal?]

Just as America has fought many battles for its continued freedom, so does the eagle.  With encroaching urbanization of green spaces and previously forested areas, eagles may be forced to build their nests atop manmade structures like tall power poles and cellular towers.  Often, these are not located near waterways, thus forcing the predatory birds to seek out smaller mammals and carrion for food rather than fish. 

All told, the recovery of the American eagle is another success story built on the commitment of citizens, non-profits, and government agencies working together to secure a safe and healthy future for our symbol of freedom. Sorry, Ben, but I just can’t help but wonder how different our country would be with a turkey as our national bird.  

If you would like to learn more about the eagles, consider attending the 13^th Annual Eagle Expo in Morgan City, February 22—24. See here for details.