Bald Eagle
· American Bald Eagle
· Bald Eagle Habitat
· Bald Eagle Food
· Bald Eagle Behaviour
· Bald Eagle Population
· Bald Eagle Facts

Bald Eagle Population

The bald eagle has been around for a rather long time now but it owns some of it survivability to just dumb luck and the dedication of various bald eagle population support groups. The bald eagle is the national animal of the United States and is even depicted on the presidential seal. Still not everybody think that it is appropriate since the opportunistic bald eagle, which both steal food and building material from other animals, is thought to be an immoral animal. Because of this some has not been very concern about the declined bald eagle population but luckily others have and because of this it is today increasing again.

Bald Eagle Population – Origins

The bald eagle can only be found on the north American continent and nowhere else, therefore it is very important to look over the bald eagle population every once and awhile so that this species does not fall from the map. It is the believed that the bald eagle species got separated from the other eagles around 10 million years ago, in the early Miocene period, and that it acclimated to the widely versatile terrains and environments that is North America.

Bald Eagle Population – Recent decline

It is estimated that there were around 200.000 nesting pairs of bald eagles on the North American continent during the 18th century but this would change, and it would all be our fault. The rapid declination was astonishing and in the 1950s there were only 10.000 nesting pairs left. The warning whistle was not blown until ten years later, in the 1960s, though when scientist counted the current bald eagle population to a painfully low 500 mating pairs. It was clear that something needed to be done towards the mass shooting of the bald eagle, the pesticides used in crops, the polluting of nature and otherwise destruction of the bald eagles’ habitat.

Bald Eagle Population – Today

Because of the extreme importance of the bald eagle as a symbol of the United States the measures taken to protect the species were border lining to the extreme. The usage of DDT as an agricultural pesticide was banned overnight and together with very strong endangered species and environmental protection laws especially suited for the bald eagle made for a solid legal protection of the species. A lot of private people gathered in organisations took turns guarding the extremely small bald eagle population and worked closely with both state and federal authorities to uphold the law. The population of bald eagles has today started to rise again with a above 50.000 birds in their natural habitats but the population is still far from safe and the efforts continue to make the bald eagle population as strong as it once was.

Bald Eagle Population – Indian society

The feathers of the bald eagle has for a very long time been an important piece in Native American religious rituals. Because of the threat of extinction these Indian tribes got together and decided to stop the usage of these feathers except from bald eagles which has died of natural causes. For the last couple of years these tribes could have waited for years to get a hold on feathers for religious purposes and for that they should have a special thanks, it is hard to imagine any other religion doing the same.