The Center for Biological Diversity stated that when European explorers first began to explore the New World, the number of nesting pairs of Bald Eagles was about 250,000.

Also known in the United States as the American Eagle, their numbers were severely reduced by the mid-twentieth century, primarily from the human use of the pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). By 1963, only 417 pairs remained. The ingestion of DDT by the birds caused them to become sterile or unable to lay healthy eggs (the thin eggshells were often crushed under the weight of the brooding adult).

The United States declared the Bald Eagle, its national bird, to be an endangered species in 1967 by the Endangered Species Act. Over the ensuing forty years, their numbers slowly but steadily recovered. In 2007, their numbers are over 11,000.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to delist the species from the threatened wildlife list by June 29, 2007.

With the scientific name Haliaeetus leucocephalus, the Bald Eagle’s natural range covers almost all of North America, including most of Canada, all of the continental United States, and northern Mexico. It is a bird of prey, feeding on almost all types of fish and many types of marine animals, many types of birds such as ducks, gulls, egrets, and geese, and many other animals such as rabbits, hares, muskrats, and deer. They also feed on carrion (decaying animal flesh).

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