Bald eagles are very important and beautiful birds. Bald eagles used to be endangered, but with people protecting them, now they are ranked “least concerned.”
Bald eagles average weight is around 6.6-13 lbs, their length varies from around 30.4 to 36.4 inches, and their wingspan grows to be between 5.5-8 feet long. Also, the bald eagles lifespan in the wild is 25 years, but their lifespan in captivity is 47 years.
Eagles are "birds of prey," and that means they hunt their food. Bald eagles' prey includes waterfowl and other small animals, like squirrels, prairie dogs, raccoons, rabbits and fish. Bald eagles often steal birds of prey like ospreys. They eat carrion, which is decaying flesh from dead animals such as deer hit by a car. Carrion is a very important food source in the winter when other food is not reliable. Another interesting
Bald eagles are found worldwide except for in South America. Bald eagles are birds that mate for life, unless their partner dies early. As a ritual, when bald eagles court each other they soar at high speeds, then zoom down doing the “death spiral” toward Earth. This movement, also known as the “cartwheel,” is one of the most impressive moves among their “spectacular courtship ritual,” says wildlife ecologist David Buehler of the University of Tennessee.
[Sources:
Wildlife Explorer; National Geographic; Eagles of Assowompsett pond
]
