WALL STREET GIFTS - The Story of Eagles

There are 60 species of Eagle on Earth – only two are in North America – Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle.

Eagles are mentioned several times in the Bible. The eagle was the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire and is the spiritual symbol of many Native American tribes.

Since 1782 the Bald Eagle has been the national symbol of the United States. Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey, but thankfully, lost.

Some interesting facts about Bald Eagles:

By tagging some bald agles, we now know that tagged Eagles have flown from California to Alaska….from Florida to Michigan.

The Eagle nests, called eyries, are used year after year. The largest known nest was about 10 feet wide and 20 feet tall! It was in St Petersburg FL. The nest can weigh up to 2,000 lbs!

Juvenile eagles first fly between 10-12 weeks. Soon, they can fly about 100 miles each day. It takes a juvenile eagle 5 years to have the white coloring of an adult.

The age of the oldest known eagle was 38 years.

Eagle eyes can see about 3 times better than human.

Each eagle has about 700 feathers. Feathers are made of keratin – same material as our fingernails.

Eagle talons are about 2 inches long and can exert enough pressure to equate to 1,000 lb.

Eagles can fly as high as 10,000 ft. When an eagle is soaring, its wings are as flat as a board – compared to a vulture whose wings form a “V”.

In 1963 The Bald Eagle was added to the Endangered list in the USA – due to DDT. It's population had shrunk to 417 pairs. The use of DDT began in the 1950’s and was banned in 1972. The Bald Eagle was removed from Endangered list in 2007. In the Continental US, Montana is the eagle’s best habitat. However, Alaska has the largest Bald Eagle populaton. An awesome event happens annually. Almost 4,000 American Bald Eagles gather along a 5-mile stretch of the Chilkat River near Haines and Klukwan, Alaska each fall. This great wildlife spectacle is the largest gathering of bald eagles in the world. Image seeing 4,000 eagles in just 5 miles along a river!

Eagles mate for life. Courtship is interesting. The male and female hook talons when in the air. They cartwheel many times. It’s fun to see!

Eagles prefer fish – but will eat other animals. The largest animal that an Eagle was seen carrying in flight was a 15 lb baby deer.

Another unusual display in flight is when the Bald Eagle flops over on it's back! Talons skyward! In our exclusive wildlife animal photos, we have a photo capturing that moment!

This Bird of Prey is fondly known as the King of Birds.