Ah, Independence Day. A day to celebrate what makes America America: Freedom.So naturally, today's animal would have something to do with America. And what better American animal--American bird--than the Bald Eagle?
My mom took the picture of the US flag to the left and I touched it up. Pictures of the eagle can be found here.
The bald eagle is the only eagle unique to North America. It ranges from Alaska to northern Mexico, and is the USA's national bird.
Eagles are famous for their excellent eyesight. They have a wingspan of 72 to 90 inches, and can fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet. In the wild, bald eagles can live as long as thirty years and in captivity they can live as long as fifty years.
Fish-mainly salmon-- are an important food source for the bald eagle. They will eat other animals, but fish are the staple of their diet. They will even eat dead or dying fish. Their hunting ranges vary from 1,700 to 10,000 acres. Ranges are smaller where food is in abundance.
Once they are paired, a male and a female bald eagle will stay together for life. They build nests in large trees near bodies of water. The female lays one to three eggs every nesting season, and the eaglets hatch after 35 days of incubation, and reach maturity at four or five years of age.
So, the bald eagle.
Y'know, Ben Franklin didn't want it to become our national bird. He wanted the turkey.
Sources: http://www.rlrouse.com/bald-eagle.html
http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/www/critters/eagle/826572782.html
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