Male bald eagles generally measure 3 feet from head to tail, weigh 7 to 10
pounds, and have a wingspan of about 6 1/2 feet. Females are larger, some
reaching 14 pounds and having a wingspan of up to 8 feet. This striking
raptor has large, pale eyes; a powerful yellow beak; and great, black talons.
The distinctive white head and tail feathers appear only after the bird is 4 to
5 years old.

Bald eagles are believed to live 30 years or longer in the wild, and even
longer in captivity. They mate for life and build huge nests in the tops of
large trees near rivers, lakes, marshes, or other wetland areas. Nests are often
reused year after year. With additions to the nests made annually, some may
reach 10 feet across and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. Although bald
eagles may range over great distances, they usually return to nest within 100
miles of where they were raised.

Bald eagles normally lay two to three eggs once a year and the eggs hatch
after about 35 days. The young eagles are flying within 3 months and are on
their own about a month later. However, disease, lack of food, bad weather,
or human interference can kill many eaglets; sometimes only about half will
survive their first year.

The staple of most bald eagle diets is fish, but they will feed on almost
anything they can catch, including ducks, rodents, snakes, and carrion. In
winter, northern birds migrate south and gather in large numbers near open
water areas where fish or other prey are plentiful.

Wildlife experts believe there may have been 25,000 to as many as 75,000
nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states when the bird was adopted as our
national symbol in 1782. Since that time, the bald eagle has suffered from
habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shooting, and contamination of
its food source, most notably due to the pesticide DDT. By the early 1960s
there were fewer than 450 bald eagle nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.

Bald eagles have few natural enemies. But in general they need an
environment of quiet isolation; tall, mature trees; and clean waters. Those
conditions have changed over much of the bald eagle's former habitat.

History notes many wilderness areas were cleared for farms and towns, and
virgin forests were cut for timber and fuel. And, today, an increasing number
of people flock to the nation's waterways for recreation, with growing
impacts on bald eagle habitat.

Meanwhile, these birds of prey became prey themselves. Although primarily
fish and carrion eaters, bald eagles and other raptors were seen as marauders
that killed chickens, lambs, and other domestic livestock. As a consequence,
large numbers were shot by farmers, ranchers, and others.

In 1940, noting that the national bird was "threatened with extinction,"
Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act which made it illegal to kill,
harass, possess (without a permit), or sell bald eagles. In 1967, bald eagles
were officially declared an endangered species (under a law that preceded the
Endangered Species Act of 1973) in all areas of the United States south of the
40th parallel. Federal and state government agencies, along with private
organizations, successfully sought to alert the public about the bald eagle's
plight and to protect its habitat from further destruction.

The greatest threat to the bald eagle's existence arose from the widespread
use of DDT and other pesticides after World War II. DDT was sprayed on
croplands throughout the country and its residues washed into lakes and
streams. There, they were absorbed by aquatic plants and small animals that
were eaten by fish. The contaminated fish, in turn, were consumed by bald
eagles.

The chemical interfered with the bald eagle's ability to develop strong shells
for its eggs. As a result, bald eagles and many other bird species began laying
eggs with shells so thin they often broke during incubation or otherwise
failed to hatch. Their reproduction disrupted, bald eagle populations
plummeted. As the dangers of DDT became known, in large part due to
Rachel Carson's famous book Silent Spring, this chemical was banned for
most uses in the United States in 1972.

In addition to the adverse effects of DDT, bald eagles also died from lead
poisoning as a result of feeding on hunter-killed or crippled waterfowl
containing lead shot and from lead shot that was inadvertently ingested by
the waterfowl. (In 1991, a 5-year program to phase out the use of lead shot
for waterfowl hunting was completed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

Gradually, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assembled the largest colony of
breeding bald eagles in captivity at its Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
near Laurel, Maryland, in a major effort to return healthy eagles to the wild
(the center is now run by the National Biological Survey).

Patuxent's scientists enhanced the species' breeding potential by removing
the bald eagle's first clutch of eggs and incubating them artificially. The bald
eagles would usually then lay a second clutch, which the birds were allowed
to incubate themselves. In all, 124 bald eagles were hatched at Patuxent.

These captive-hatched bald eagles were an important source for restocking
wild populations in certain areas of the country and helped to reestablish a
broader distribution. Patuxent's program came to an end in 1988, as bald
eagles began to reproduce more successfully in the wild, and the center
turned its efforts toward other more critically endangered species.

Some states continue reintroduction efforts, and two methods are generally
used. Eaglets used for reintroduction may be captive-hatched or, since
usually only two young per nest survive, they may be transferred from a bald
eagle nest with a clutch of more than two.

These "extra" eaglets are placed in the nest of an adult pair whose own eggs
are infertile or fail to hatch. The "foster parents" readily adopt the chicks
and raise them as their own.

Another method, called hacking, is a procedure adapted from the sport of
falconry. At 8 weeks of age, nestling eaglets are placed on manmade towers
located in remote areas where bald eagle populations are low or non-existent.
The eaglets are kept in an enclosure and fed by humans who stay out of
sight. When the birds are capable of flight, at about 12 weeks old, the
enclosure around the artificial nest is opened and the birds are free to leave.
Food is still provided at the release site until the birds learn to fend for
themselves in the wild.

With these and other recovery methods, as well as habitat improvement and
the banning of DDT, the bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback. From
adult bald eagles nesting pairs and an unknown number of young and
subadults in the conterminous United States.
This represents a substantial breeding population. In the last
few years, several states have had breeding bald eagles for the first time in
years. While habitat loss still remains a threat to the bald eagle's
full recovery, most experts agree that it is making encouraging progress. Soon
our national symbol soaring the skies may become a common sight for
Americans to once again behold.

BALD EAGLE MAKES GOOD

The American bald eagle, the symbol of the United States and one of the
nation's most revered predators, will celebrate its first Fourth of July in 27
years as a ''threatened'' species (a remarkable achievement for a species
perched on the abyss of extinction just two decades ago).
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie will travel to
Maryland's Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to release a female bald
eagle, ''Hope,'' and announce the eagle's status will be upgraded from
''endangered'' to ''threatened'' in most of the lower 48 states. The
reclassification has been anticipated since the eagle began its dramatic
recovery in the 1980s. ''This is more than just an environmental success
story, more than a burst of good news to inspire us,'' said National Wildlife
Federation President Jay Hair. ''Thanks to the dedication of countless
individuals working with the Endangered Species Act, the eagle is easier to
find in the continental United States.'' The eagle is abundant in Alaska, but
is expected to keep its ''endangered'' status in the Southwest, where its
recovery has been far less robust than in the other states. The decision to
upgrade its status does not strip needed protections from the birds, but
recognizes it is no longer threatened with extinction and allows for more
flexibility in protecting existing populations.

The eagle first received federal protection in 1967, six years before passage of
the Endangered Species Act. Populations fell to about 40 nesting pairs of
eagles in 1963, but a 1992 census turned up nearly 3,750 pairs in the lower 48
states. Alaska is home to between 30,000 and 50,000 bald eagles, but a
program to transplant them to the other states ended this year after 13 years
because it was no longer needed. ''Clearly, this is a very important success
for the Endangered Species Act,'' said Michael Bean, senior attorney at the
Environmental Defense Fund. ''There are some critics of the act who are
unwilling to concede the act has been responsible in large measure for the
eagle's recovery; they would like the public to believe it was just the result of
banning DDT, but that doesn't convey the whole story.''While eagle
populations suffered from poaching, electrocution in power lines and
indiscriminate shooting, the egg-thinning pesticide DDT was mostly to blame
for the sharp declines. It wasn't until the chemical was banned in 1972 that
the eagle reproductive rates began improving. Another benefactor of the
DDT ban was the peregrine falcon, which also was upgraded recently.

The Fish and Wildlife Service office in Minneapolis proposed reclassifying
the eagle in January. Moreover, Thursday's ''downlisting'' ceremony
refocuses attention on the 20-year-old Endangered Species Act, currently
under attack by critics who say it is too rigid and puts the interests of plants
and animals above those of humans. ''Most wildlife biologists say the
recovery is due primarily to the ban on DDT,'' said Jim Streeter of the
National Wilderness Institute, which is pushing for reform of the endangered
species law. Streeter played down the law's role in the eagle's recovery,
saying a sharp decline in eagle shootings from the early 1960s to the early
1970s reflected a growing acceptance of wild predators even before they were
protected by the 1973 law. ''There are some ironies in this whole story,'' said
Karyn Strickler, campaign director for the Endangered Species Coalition.
''As we celebrate the recovery of the bald eagle, the very law that enabled
that recovery is being threatened. If the so-called reformers have their way,
the law itself will no longer be able to do its job.''The Clinton administration
recently removed the California gray whale from the endangered species list,
proclaiming the move as evidence the species law works. In the case of the
eagle, the recovery in some areas has been breathtaking. Thanks in large part
to captive breeding efforts that led to the release of captive-raised birds into
target habitats, the recovery program appears well on its way to success.

A federal ban on lead-shot ammunition, blamed for poisoning many of the
birds, has helped rebuild populations in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and
Colorado; while the acquisition and preservation of prime eagle habitat has
improved their lot in Delaware, Virginia and New York. Captive-reared birds
helped boost populations in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Oklahoma,
Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Maine. ''We join in congratulating Americans
for helping this majestic bird to survive,'' said Hair. ''The critical thing is the
protection of the eagle's habitat,'' said Strickler. ''Let's also remember as we
celebrate this victory that the eagle has merely been downlisted; it has not
been taken off the endangered species list, and the only way we will
eventually be able to take it off is if we have a strong act in place protecting
the eagle and the habitat.''