posted May 10, 2008 11:05 PM         

We will begin with a very important member of Kingdom Animalia, our national bird here in the United States, The Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Accipitrinae
Genus: Haliaeetus
Species: Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Geographic Range
The bald eagle is native to North America and originally bred from central Alaska and northern Canada south to Baja California, central Arizona, and the Gulf of Mexico. It now has been extirpated in many southern areas of this range.

Behavior
Bald eagles are only partially migratory; if they possess access to open water, they will remain at that nesting sight year round. Those that do not have access to water leave the frozen countryside in the winter and migrate to south or to the coast. Eagles choose their migratory routes to take advantage of thermals, updrafts, and food sources, and usually migrate during the day between 8:00 A.M and 6:00 P.M.

There are three methods of flight used during migration. Eagles ascend in in a thermal and then glide down, circle steadily down a stream of thermals, or use rising air generated by the wind as it sweeps down against a cliff or other raised feature of the terrain.

Food Habits
Bald eagles are primarily fish-eaters that prefer salmon, but will also take avian prey. Waterfowl are an important secondary food source, and eagles also eat small mammals such as rabbits, seabirds, and carrion. When hunting, the Bald Eagle either seeks its prey from a perch or from high in the sky, then swoops down and snatches up the prey in its talons. Another method used by bald eagles to gain food is theft; Bald Eagles are often seen stealing prey from other birds.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Eagles help ranchers by controlling the number of rabbits and rodents -- animals that compete with livestock for grass. Their feathers are used in the ceremonies of some groups of native North Americans.

Conservation Status: Threatened.

Over the years, the Bald Eagle population has suffered from excessive hunting and pollution. In the early part of the century, hunting eagles was a popular sport. Eagles were shot not only for their feathers, but also because they posed a "threat" to livestock (e.g. sheep) and hampered the fishing industry. In recent years, however, pollution has greatly contributed to the demise of the species. As a result of both land and water pollution, a significant amount of the Bald Eagle food supply has been killed. In particular, the use of pesticides such as DDT had been the greatest threat to the species. Pesticides are often found in fish, the major food supply for eagles. DDT in a female's body disturb the shell-making process, causing her to produce very weak shells or no shells at all. Eagles once numbered around 50,000 in the contiguous United States, but by the time the U.S had restricted the use of DDT in1972, only about 800 bredding pairs remained. Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, however, the eagles have made a steady recovery. Breeding pairs now number close to 3000, and there has been an increase in the number of hatchlings per nest. Only in Canada and Alaska, however, are eagles found in abundance.

A tremendous effort had been made to protect and restore the bald eagle population. Some states now support effective nest-monitoring and programs to release young birds into the wild. Federal protection has involved monitoring populations, improving protection, setting up captive breeding programs, relocating wild birds, and establishing a wide-ranging public information program.

Bald eagles are currently listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. They are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Act.

Source: Harris, M. 2002. "Haliaeetus leucocephalus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 10, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Haliaeetus_leucocephalus.html

posted May 12, 2008 09:43 PM         

Jeff

When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet's office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her dowl cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone. Yahoo!

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.

Hope you enjoy this.

Jeff

Jeff Guidry and Freedom are at

Sarvey Wildlife Center
http://www.sarveywildlife.org/

posted May 13, 2008 02:08 PM         

Eagles are so beautiful aren't they!?

I love that last post about Jeff and Freedom. Brought tears to my eyes.

I too have had the opportunity to see and feel one. When I was in High School I was in Natural Resource Management class and volunteered to run a booth at the Outdoorsman Show .. US Fish and Wildlife attended as well and brought in injured animals ... the Bald Eagle was one of them. You never quite realize how large these magnificent birds are until you see one up close.

posted June 23, 2008 01:46 PM         

large close-up shot of a bald eagle's head ..
~ http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/enlarge/bald-eagle-head_image.html ~

( edited to add )
btw: for a north american and scottish resident .. similar in size to the bald eagle
maybe not as 'good looking' .. but impressive in it's own right ..
different hair style for sure ..

this is a 'google image' search result after entering 'golden eagle'
~ http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=golden+eagle&btnG=Search+ Images&gbv=1 ~
plenty of good pics on the first page .. :-)