We’ve come to the end of our Birds theme week. Since we’re going into the Memorial Day weekend, today we’re talking about America’s national bird, the bald eagle! If you’ve ever seen a bald eagle, you know they’re not actually bald. Their name comes from an older meaning of the word “bald” – at one time it meant “white-headed”! Bald eagles are only found in North America, and its range includes most of Canada, Alaska, the contiguous U.S., and northern Mexico. They build the biggest nests of any bird in North America. They can be as large as 13 feet deep, over 8 feet across, and weigh 1 metric ton. They are used repeatedly over many years, with one nest in the Midwest being occupied continuously for 34 years! In the mid-20th century, bald eagles were on the brink of extinction. The population dwindled from 300,000-500,000 in the 18th century, to just 412 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states by the 1950s. Many factors caused this, including the use of DDT which cause the thinning of eagles’ eggshells. But thanks to federal regulations and the banning of DDT, the population rebounded. Numbers have increased 4% per year between 1966 and 2019, and today the total population in the lower 48 is estimated to be more than 316,000. The bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1787. The founding fathers were fond of comparing the new republic with the Roman Republic, which used a lot of eagle imagery as a sign of strength. In June 1782, the Continental Congress officially adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States, which depicted a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with 13 leaves with its talons. Today, bald eagles appear on most official seals of the government, including the presidential flag, presidential seal, and on the logo of many federal agencies. Learn more here.