The bald eagle symbolizes America. It’s on coins and banknotes, adorns the Great Seal, and inspired conservation efforts that brought the species to life. Back from the brink of extinction. Although it was first used as a national symbol more than 240 years ago, Congress has never formalized it.
That has changed earlier this year. And on Christmas Eve, President Biden signed A bill to declare the bald eagle the official state bird.
“For nearly 250 years, we have called the bald eagle our national bird,” Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Eagle Center’s National Bird Initiative, said in a news release. “But now the title is official, and there is no bird more worthy.”
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I’ve come a long way so far Haliaeetus leucocephalusThis is the scientific name for the bald eagle, known for its striking white head and yellow beak over its brown body. Populations of the bird, which feeds on fish and carrion but is also known to prey on livestock, initially declined due to habitat and food loss, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
However, it was the introduction of the pesticide DDT that nearly caused the bird’s extinction in the 20th century. When the birds ate fish exposed to the chemicals, they laid eggs with weak shells. The eggs did not survive hatching, and the population declined to just 417 nesting pairs by 1963, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
USA DDT banned in 1972 And a few years later, the bald eagle was declared endangered. Over the next few decades, bald eagles the population has recovered. By 2007, there were nearly 10,000 nesting pairs in the United States and bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list.
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the number of bald eagles has numbered in the hundreds of thousands in recent years. Bald eagles have become fascinating in recent years. Bird watchers in the heart of New York CityAnd Eagle Cam appeared on . National Arboretum in Washington DCto American Steel in Pennsylvania and In Big Bear Valley, California.
Legislation designating the bald eagle as the national bird of the United States Led by Minnesota lawmakers. The state is home to what Senator Amy Klobuchar has described as one of the largest bald eagle populations in the country.
