Bald Eagle

The bald eagle is a large bird of prey native to North America, easily identified as an adult by its white head and tail contrasting with a dark brown body, a plumage it does not acquire until four or five years of age. It lives near rivers, lakes and coastlines across most of the continent, feeding mainly on fish, which it catches by swooping low over the water and snatching prey with its talons, though it also scavenges and steals food from other birds. Bald eagles build some of the largest nests of any bird, reused and enlarged year after year in tall trees or on cliffs. Once endangered in the contiguous United States due to hunting and the pesticide DDT, the species recovered strongly after protective measures and a hunting ban and has been the national bird and symbol of the United States since 1782.