Details
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
North America's iconic sea eagle, instantly known by its snow-white head and tail and massive yellow beak. It soars over open water and snatches fish from the surface with its talons, and serves as the national bird of the United States.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
A Nearctic raptor ranging from Canada and Alaska through the contiguous United States to northern Mexico. It needs large open bodies of water rich in prey alongside old-growth trees tall enough for its enormous nests.
Body length runs 70–100 cm with a wingspan near 2 m. Adults are dark brown with a pure-white head and tail, a hooked yellow beak, and yellow feet and eyes. Females are about 25% larger than males, weighing 3–6.3 kg; juveniles stay mottled brown until the white head appears around their fifth year.
Pairs bond strongly and mate for life. A powerful flier, it rides thermals to great heights, glides at 56–70 km/h, and stoops at 120–160 km/h. Northern birds migrate south when their waters freeze over in winter.
A carnivore that favors fish above all, swooping low to grasp prey from the surface with talons built to grip. It also takes waterfowl, mammals, and reptiles, scavenges carrion, and frequently robs other birds such as ospreys of their catch.
Monogamous, it builds the largest nest of any North American bird, some reaching 4 m deep and a metric ton in weight. A clutch is usually one to two eggs, and chicks fledge 8–14 weeks after hatching. Birds reach maturity at four to five years.
Once driven to the brink by hunting and the pesticide DDT, the species rebounded after both were banned and was removed from the U.S. endangered species list in 2007. Vehicle strikes and lead poisoning remain leading causes of death today.
