Bald eagle

흰머리수리

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States, a big sea eagle with a white head and yellow beak. Its wingspan tops 2 m, it mostly eats fish, and pairs reuse and add to one nest until it becomes enormous.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Birds
Lives in: Southeast Alaska, USA
Diet: Fish eater
Weight: about 4.7 kg
Length: about 0.85 m
Top speed: about 160 km/h
Lifespan: up to about 38 years
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN LC)
Habitat: coasts, rivers & lakes, forests

Quick answers

Where does the Bald eagle live?

It lives in coasts, rivers & lakes, forests. On the globe you can find it near Southeast Alaska, USA.

How big is the Bald eagle?

It grows to about 0.85 m and 4.7 kg.

What does the Bald eagle eat?

Its diet: fish eater.

How fast is the Bald eagle?

It can reach about 160 km/h.

How long does the Bald eagle live?

It can live up to about 38 years.

Is the Bald eagle endangered?

It is listed as Least Concern (IUCN LC).

The bald eagle is a large sea eagle that lives across North America, from Alaska and most of Canada to all of the mainland United States and northern Mexico. Adults have a dark brown body, a white head and tail, and a hooked yellow beak. Despite its name, it is not bald at all: "bald" comes from an old English meaning of "white-headed".

Bald eagles live near lakes, rivers and coasts with plenty of fish and big old trees for nesting. Their wings usually stretch between 1.8 and 2.3 metres from tip to tip, and females are about a quarter bigger than males. The bald eagle has been the national bird and symbol of the United States since 1782. In the 1900s it almost disappeared from much of the country, but careful protection helped it make a remarkable comeback.

What it eats

Bald eagles mostly eat fish. An eagle swoops low over the water and snatches a fish with its sharp, curved claws called talons. In Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, salmon are a big part of their diet, and in autumn many eagles feast on salmon that have died after laying their eggs. They also eat birds and small mammals, and they are not shy about stealing: they often snatch food from ospreys, other birds and even otters.

Family life and giant nests

A pair of bald eagles usually builds its nest at the top of a tall, strong tree and comes back to the same nest year after year, adding more sticks each time. A typical nest is about 1.2 to 1.5 metres wide, but old ones can grow enormous. Bald eagles build the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal: one nest found in Florida was 2.9 metres wide and 6.1 metres deep. Young eagles are brown all over, and they get their white heads at around four to five years old.

Is it endangered?

Not any more. In the mid-1900s, habitat loss, shooting and a pesticide called DDT, which got into the fish the eagles ate and made their eggs fail, pushed bald eagles toward extinction. By 1963 only 417 nesting pairs were known in the lower 48 states. The United States banned DDT in 1972 and protected the eagles and their nests. By 2007 there were nearly 10,000 nesting pairs, and the bird was taken off the endangered species list.

Fun facts

The bald eagle is not bald: 'bald' comes from an old English word meaning white-headed.
A diving bald eagle can reach speeds of about 120 to 160 km/h.
The oldest bald eagle on record lived to be 38 years old; in the wild most live around 20 years.
Some bald eagle nests weigh around a tonne, as much as a small car.
In films, the bald eagle is often given the louder, harsher cry of the red-tailed hawk, because its real call is a weak, chirping whistle.

On the globe

The model shows a big brown eagle with a white head, white tail and yellow beak, living in southeast Alaska. Zoom in to spot its bright head against its dark wings.