American bald eagle

Description:

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird of the United States of America and appears on its Seal. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting. Its diet consists mainly of fish, but it is an opportunistic feeder. It hunts fish by swooping down and snatching the fish out of the water with its talons. It is sexually mature at four years or five years of age. The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of any North American bird, up to 13 feet deep, 8.2 feet wide, and one metric ton (1.1 tons) in weight. Our national bird mates for life, has talons that can put 500-800 pounds of pressure per inch on its prey, while a typical man can do 20-30 pounds of pressure. The adult Bald Eagle is mainly brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage, but females are larger than males. The beak is large and hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown. Bald Eagles are not actually bald, the name derives from the older meaning of the word, "white headed".

Habitat:

Reelfoot Lake Visitors' Center

Notes:

Meet Captain Bligh, one of the two resident bald eagles at the Reelfoot Visitors Center that are used to educate the public about these magnificent birds. Bligh can't be released because the wing injury that brought him there prevents him from flying well enough to survive in the wild. He has been sharing his large outdoor enclosure with another eagle brought in a few months ago that happily has made a full recovery from its injuries & will be released this weekend.