Our New National Bird

Last month Santa was particularly busy on Christmas Eve. He didn’t just deliver presents this time, he also delivered a new national bird to the United States. And that new national bird is – drum roll, please – the Bald Eagle! (As always, click on any image to enlarge and view better)

Above - This Bald Eagle circled above my head and may be the closest I’ve ever been to an eagle

OK, I can hear your confusion all the way here as you read this. But, Paul, you rightly ask, haven’t we always had the bald eagle as our national bird? Well, sort of. Interestingly we have a national mammal but no officially designated national bird. (To find out the national mammal, if you don’t already know, read to the end)

The Bald Eagle was selected as the symbol of the official seal of a young United States in 1872 and has graced many an official document and currency since then. Even that didn’t almost happen, though, as none other than Ben Franklin groused (bad pun) that the Bald Eagle was a “bird of bad moral character”. Sure, eagles are known to steal fish from Osprey in mid-air, but Franklin’s preferred bird for the seal was a wild turkey!

Above - Close-up of a wild turkey I ran into a couple years ago at South Platte Park. And this is what Ben Franklin wanted to be our national symbol??

Obviously wiser heads prevailed among our founders and the eagle it was for the seal. Last year, a Minnesota resident (where eagles are plentiful as I found out last Fall) asked his congressional delegation to right this wrong of no national bird and sponsor legislation naming the Bald Eagle as the official national bird. It not only passed in Congress, it passed unanimously and signed into law by the President on Christmas Eve! Let that sink in for a minute. Our partisan Congress actually passed a law that NO ONE voted against!

Above - I was so pleased that this Bal Eagle flew right by me with the blue water in the background

The bald eagle is a perfect symbol of our country. It is resilient despite setbacks throughout its existence. It has been on the brink of extinction twice. The first time was in the late 1800s when it was hunted for being, as Franklin claimed, “a bird of bad moral character”, falsely accused of kidnapping livestock and even small children (who says misinformation is a new phenomenon?). More recently, the use of DDT in pesticides caused the eggshells of eagles to become thin and fragile, thus making successful hatches a rarity rather than the norm. Shortly before the time DDT was finally banned in 1972 there were less than 500 mated pairs in the entire country. There are now thought to be about a half million eagles in existence in North America, the only continent where Bald Eagles exist.

Above - Close-up of a Bald Eagle that stayed really close. Notice the eye. The “film’ over its eye is what is called a nictitating membrane, a translucent extra eyelid that protects a bird’s eye while allowing the bird to see through it for predators.

Here in Colorado, we have a relatively small number of year-round bald eagle residents. But in December and January each year, we get an influx of migrating eagles that rest up for a few weeks before moving on. Barr Lake, just northeast of Denver, consistently hosts the largest number. But this year, I saw healthy numbers at both the Rocky Mountain National Arsenal Wildlife Refuge and Chatfield State Park, one of my “local” parks. The eagles at the Arsenal were frequently active (flying, fishing, fighting, etc.) but are far away from viewing areas while the eagles at Chatfield are more docile but closer for viewing. Below is a sampling of photos I took in December at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge.

Last week, shooting partner Shelley and I witnessed an awe-inspiring event on a cold and windy day at Chatfield – the end of some of the migratory eagles there. It was late in the afternoon, and we got some good photos like one of two adults and a juvenile sitting in a tree. After a while they flew off to join eight other eagles that were standing on ice in the middle of the lake. As a group they suddenly lifted off in unison and continually circled higher and higher in the sky. It became obvious to us that they were “playing the therms” in order to use as little energy as possible to migrate out. They effortlessly floated miles away to the southwest, transitioning into dots in the sky until they were gone from our view and more future photo opportunities this season.

Above - The two eagles in the bottom left sitting in the tree are almost adults, probably about 4 years old while the eagle in the tree in the upper left is likely about 2-3 years old due to the significant presence of white feathers on its breast. The “red dots” flying by are actually a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds.

Above - Six of the eleven eagles we watched glide effortlessly in the sky riding “therms” as they migrated out of Chatfield State Park.

We are fortunate to have one mated pair that nests every year and it appears they have stayed again. Hopefully they will successfully add two or three new eagles to the population of our national bird this Spring.

Above - This is the mated pair that lives at Chatfield State Park year-round. They’ve had 2-3 chicks per year recently. They seem to be sharing some gossip while sitting next to each other in the tree.

Unfortunately, new threats to eagles are beginning to show up. The avian flu, aka bird flu, affects large birds such as eagles and savagely attacks their nervous systems until they cannot function anymore. And, of course, a man-made threat has again entered the picture with eagles dying from lead poisoning caused by lead bullets that kill animals such as deer that are not packed out. Eagles and other birds eat the carrion of the animals and ingest lead, leading to eventual death. There are alternative bullet materials but until those become more widespread and less costly, it’s likely the lead problem will continue.

If you are interest in learning more about Bald Eagles, I highly recommend the book The Bald Eagle: The Improbably Journey of America’s Bird by Jack E Davis. And the answer to the national mammal is the bison, so designated by law in 2016.

Above - Our national mammal, the bison, that I photographed in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

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