Latin Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Status: Least Concern

Food: They catch fish or waterfowl with their feet, but will eat dead fish found along the shore when possible to save the energy of hunting live prey.

Population: This species has undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years in North America

Distribution: North America

Interesting Fact: It takes about five years for the young ‘eaglets’ brown heads to grow through white.

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is the national symbol of America. This species was highly endangered in the 1970’s, with past declines being attributed to intense hunting, unintentional poisonings (notably use of DDT and lead shot), and habitat destruction in combination with the loss of great herds of bison, a seasonally important food source. But this species has undergone a large increase over the last 40 years in North America.

There is some political debate with the Trump administration after the reversal of the ban on lead shot in 2017 – an interesting Guardian article here

Bald Eagles are fish or sea eagles, which usually live near coastlines. They catch fish or waterfowl with their feet, but will eat dead fish found along the shore when possible to save the energy of hunting live prey.

Archie and Dokata
Currently we have two Bald Eagles. Archie, who turned 30 years old in May 2018, and young Dakota, who was born in April 2015 at Magdeburg Zoo. It can take about five years for young ‘eaglets’ brown heads to grow through white. Either or sometimes both, appear in the summer ‘Eagles of Paradise‘ Display at 12 noon.

Read the article below which includes Archie’s story and how he came to be at Paradise Park.

NEWS STORIES
May 2018 – Archie the Bald Eagle is 30 years old this May