The Bald Eagle - Off the Endagered List
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The Rise and Fall of the Bald Eagle
After many years believing that the bald eagle wasn't far from extinction, this iconic American symbol has made a historic comeback. Experts realized in 1940 that the species had become endangered, and a law was passed to offer it protection from hunters- the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. DDT offered another threat to the survival of the bald eagle, and continued to feed the decline in numbers after the birds were no longer hunted. The bald eagle was included on the endangered species list in 1973, and the species hit a low point in 1963 with only 417 breeding pairs.Far from the expected extinction of the treasured national symbol, the bald eagle has since made a dramatic recovery. There are almost 10,000 breeding pairs today- enough for the species to be removed from the endangered species list. But, experts will not leave the bald eagle vulnerable to decline again. Over the next five years or so, the number of bald eagles will be closely monitored. If the monitoring shows a decline in the number of breeding pairs, experts can then move to get the bird back onto the endangered species list.
The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act will continue to protect the bald eagle even as it stays off the endangered species list. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 has offers still more protection to the bald eagle. This act made hunting the bald eagle, as well as other migratory birds, illegal in the United States and in certain other countries. Buying and selling the eggs, feathers or nests of bald eagles are all made illegal under the act, keeping the birds safe from those who would hunt them for profit in Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S.
The 1972 ban on the use of DDT has also done much to protect bald eagles. DDT traveled up the food chain to the bald eagle, and other animals, causing a steep decline in the number of breeding pairs. DDT traveled up the food chain to the bald eagle, and other animals, causing a steep decline in the number of breeding pairs. The pesticide washed from the fields to the waterways and eventually into bald eagles. Eagles then caught the contaminated fish living in these waters. Eagles that were contaminated could not produce the strong eggshells needed to sustain eagle embryos. DDT devastated the bald eagle population, as mother eagles were unable to incubate the thin eggs, often cracking them in the nest. With DDT now gone, the number of bald eagles can continue to grow.
Bald Eagle Facts
-It is probably one of the country's most recognizable symbols, and appears on most of its official seals, including the Seal of the President of the United States.
-It hunts fish by swooping down and snatching the fish out of the water with its talons.
- Once a common sight in much of the continent, the Bald Eagle was severely affected in the mid-twentieth century by a variety of factors, among them thinning of egg shells, attributed to the use of the pesticide DDT.
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