The United States congress adopted the American Bald Eagle in 1782 as the national emblem. Native Americans carefully these birds to be holy and their feathers sacred adorning themselves with feathers to show their rank in the tribe or their prowess in battle. Not every person idea these birds to be so honorable. According to myths and stories, they were hunted and slaughtered without regard, reducing their amount from the thousands to only a few hundred nesting pairs. Although Congress enacted the Bald Eagle safety Act to protect the seal of our nation and to forestall these gorgeous birds from becoming extinct, other battles were still to be fought in the war of survival before this magnificent bird started the uphill climb to recovery.
Americans grow up with a reasoning photograph of the American Bald Eagle because it is used as a seal on some currency, flags, and memorials as well as being a popular model for paintings to adorn our walls. It is certainly recognized with a dark body and white feathers on both the head and tail. The female eagles are larger than the males, weighing up to fourteen pounds, while the males ordinarily weigh seven to ten pounds. Their lifespan can be more than thirty years in the wild. Mating for life, they often nest within a hundred miles of the nest where they were reared; laying a clutch of two or three eggs annual in a nest they improve year after year, the nest sometimes reaching ten feet in diameter. Both parents partake in the incubation of the eggs, a process which will take between thirty-four and thirty-six days (hatching ordinarily a day or two apart). A young eagle or fledgling will leave the nest between seventy and ninety-eight days of age. Bald Eagles will breed starting in February straight through July away from human disturbances in open areas. Eagles will migrate from Northern area added south for the winter, conferrence along waterways with an abundant food supply.
Habitats for the bald eagles comprise waterways or estuaries, large lakes, seaboard area, reservoirs, and major rivers, but ample food source is not the only requirement for the large birds. They must also have perching and nesting areas to accommodate this species.
Much of the bald eagles traditional habitat has been lost since the Europeans arrived in North America due to deforestation for towns, farms, and for lumber to retain the growth. This deforestation has destroyed perching and nesting sites, forcing the raptors to seek other roost such as the top of a high voltage electric pole.
The bald eagle was adopted by the U.S. Congress as the national seal in 1782. At that time, the amount of eagles was estimated as high as seventy-five thousand. By 1940, the amount had reduced so drastically that Congress enacted the Bald Eagle safety Act. This act made it illegal to harass, kill, or possess the birds or any bird or any bird parts without a permit. Although this act offered a promise for the future of the eagle, the struggle for survival was far from over. Farmers and ranchers viewed the eagle as a threat to their livestock but their traditional prey is fish although they will eat waterfowl, small mammals or rodents, and carrion.
The chemical era for agriculture and pesticides after World War Ii ushered in new problems for the troubled people of eagles while fighting the war on insects. Ddt and other pesticides applied to lawns and crops washed into the nations' water sources and contaminated water plants, fish, and small creatures, supplying a deadly dose to the eagles as they ate the fish where the chemicals concentrated in their tissues. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ddt was originally used to operate mosquitoes along coastal and wetland areas. Ddt accumulated in the birds' fat as the Ddt broke down in the birds' body and slowed the issue of calcium into the eggshells produced by the females. These birds in turn laid eggs with thin shells that would be crushed by the parents incubating them.
The Secretary of the Interior in 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 listed bald eagles south of the fortieth parallel as endangered. The people numbers had dropped to fewer than 500 pairs in the lower forty-eight states generally due to habitat destruction, hunting, and the use of pesticides like Ddt. Scientists carefully the link between Ddt and the lower amount of eagles and the United States government banned its' use in 1972. Someone else battle had been won, but the war was still not over.
Although the bald eagle received safety first under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, it wasn't until after the Endangered Species Act passes in 1973, that conservation measures to protect the eagle were implemented. The Endangered Species Act allowed unavoidable populations of animal species to be listed and new categories of threatened species to be added. Endangered species are defined by the Act as any species in danger of extinction throughout a requisite measure or all of its' range. A captive-breeding program to furnish birds for issue into the wild was started by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In expanding to the captive breeding program, the National Wildlife Refuges and local raptor restoration centers work to improve habitats or by rehabilitating injured eagles so they may be released back into the wild. Most of these organizations work straight through volunteers and are funded by donation, providing curative care for the birds and collective instruction straight through presentations and exhibitions. These measures, coupled with law promulgation and safety of the nesting sites while breeding, helped the recovery of the species, but even with these measures there were still challenges ahead for the Bald Eagle.
Another cause of mortality has been lead poisoning with more than two hundred and twenty five cases diagnosed in the last 15 years. The National Wildlife Federation succeeded in the early 1980s in getting the U. S. Fish and Wildlife service to ban the use of lead shot nationwide in hunting waterfowl, Waterfowl that had eaten or been wounded by lead shot would cause lead poisoning in eagles, which could weaken or even kill adult eagles. Since the ban, waterfowl hunters use shells loaded with steel shot instead of lead. Although the change to steel shot has helped the problem of lead poisoning, it has not cured it since upland hunters can still use lead shot, while other reports show some birds have been poisoned from lead fishing sinkers. In order to cut the risk, people should not leave solid debris such as lead sinkers in rivers and lakes where there is a opportunity they could be ingested by an eagle.
Another battle still being fought concerns the toxic effects of mercury affecting eagles with a range or neurological problems that can alter motor skills and cut the rate of eggs hatching. The source of the mercury has been identified entering waterways as air emissions from solid waste incineration sites as well as other sources. The impact on the bald eagle people in the Southeastern Region is under investigation.
In the first half of this century illegal shooting still posed a threat to eagles, this impact has been reduced straight through collective instruction and law enforcement. Some deaths still occur on power poles and lines that have not been redesigned to protect raptors, although the poles are ordinarily configured to cut the occurrence of electrocutions.
Humans and their disturbances are still a long-term threat to the Bald Eagle. Recreational operation in nesting sites can impact the reproduction processes of these birds. Eagles prefer to breed away from human disturbance in the open and adult birds can be flushed from the nests while incubation and brooding periods. This can expose the eggs or young to adverse conditions. In order to cut some of the problems caused by these disturbances, land management practices have included zones of safety restricting collective passage while crucial times. If an individual finds themselves in an eagle habitat, he or she should avoid disturbing the eagles by staying at least three hundred feet away and by retention an obstruction between them.
Although each of these problems individually is no longer a serious threat to the existence of the Bald Eagle, collectively, they can cause serious problems if not monitored. On August 11, 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, branch of Endangered Species, ruled that the American Bald Eagle would be removed from the endangered list but would remain listed as threatened even though the eagle has made a spectacular comeback to nearly 5,800 pairs. In a Cbs new narrative on June 29, 2000 Cindy Hoffman stated that lawyers for the government were trying to decree if the birds' habitat would be protected by federal law if it is taken off the endangered species list. Due to all of these efforts, generations to come will be able to look up and see our national seal flying overhead instead of just seeing in on our currency, stamps or flag poles.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service will work with state agencies to monitor the status of the bald eagle for five years, a requirement of the Endangered Species Act. They are the requisite federal branch responsible for protecting, conserving, and enhancing wildlife, fish, and their habitats while managing over 150 million acres, 550 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System, operating sixty-six national fish hatcheries and 37 wetland management districts. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service administers the Endangered Species Act, enforces Federal wildlife laws, conserves and restores wildlife habitats, manages migratory bird populations, and helps foreign countries with their conservation practices, while overseeing the Federal Aid programs to state fish and wildlife agencies. In expanding to all of these duties, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service established the National Eagle Repository in early 1970 to furnish feathers from the Golden and Bald Eagles for Native American ceremonial purposes settled at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Denver, Colorado. The repository is a range point for dead eagles. The Bald Eagle safety Act prohibits the taking, transportation, barter, trade, import or export, sale of any part of and the rights of eagles. This Act makes it illegal to possess and eagle or body part from an eagle. rights of an eagle body part, even a feather, without a permit, is a felony and can carry a fine up to ,000 and/or imprisonment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service will issue a permit to a Native American to receive and possess eagle feathers from the Repository for use in religious ceremonies, but there is a large request with thousands on a waiting list. The Repository receives nearby nine hundred eagles per year and it could take up to two and a half years for an order to be filled for even a single feather.
As of January 2009, The American Bald Eagle is still listed as a threatened species for unavoidable populations in the Sonoran Desert (Region 2) but is listed as Taxon-recovered for the lower 48 states. Diligent notice is still required to claim this recovery but proper steps were taken to furnish the requisite safety for these magnificent birds.
The American people have risen to the opportunity to protect the seal of our nation and because of this dedication; the American Bald Eagle has made a spectacular recovery from near extinction. The story of the fight to save this magnificent bird shows the same courage and honor as we associate with the bird itself. It has been an uphill battle, but it is one the American people rose to meet head on. Maybe one day on the long drive to school, in the early morning hours, I can look up at one of those gorgeous birds soaring high above the trees and feel pride in knowing it is there because we cared sufficient not to give up.
The American Bald Eagle - A emblem of Life and free time