🦅The Bald Eagle

National Bird of the United States since 1782

The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782, when the Second Continental Congress adopted it as the central figure of the Great Seal. Despite the name, bald eagles are not bald — the word comes from an older English term, "piebald," meaning having white markings. The eagle's striking white head and tail against a dark brown body make it one of the most recognizable birds in the world.

Choosing a National Bird

When the Continental Congress commissioned a Great Seal for the new United States in 1776, the committee included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. They could not agree on a design. Two more committees tried and failed. Finally, in 1782, Secretary of the Congress Charles Thomson proposed an American bald eagle with a shield on its breast, an olive branch in its right talon, and thirteen arrows in its left. Congress adopted this design on June 20, 1782. The bald eagle — native only to North America — was chosen partly because it symbolized strength and independence, and partly because it was distinctively American.

Franklin's Complaint

Benjamin Franklin was famously unenthusiastic about the choice. In a private 1784 letter to his daughter, he wrote that the eagle was "a Bird of bad moral Character," noting that eagles often stole fish from the hard-working osprey and ran away from smaller birds. He went on to suggest that the wild turkey would have been a more appropriate symbol — "a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America."

The letter was private and never resulted in any actual proposal, but it has fueled a persistent myth that Franklin campaigned for the turkey as national bird. He did not. By the time he wrote the letter, the eagle had already been the national bird for two years.

Near Extinction and Recovery

By the mid-20th century, the bald eagle population in the lower 48 states had collapsed to roughly 400 nesting pairs. The main culprit was DDT, a pesticide widely used after World War II. DDT accumulated in fish — a primary eagle food — and caused eagle eggshells to thin so much that the eggs broke during incubation. The bald eagle was listed as endangered in 1967, and DDT was banned for agricultural use in the United States in 1972. With protection under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (1940) and the Endangered Species Act (1973), the population recovered dramatically. The bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list in 2007. Today there are more than 70,000 pairs in the lower 48 alone.

Biology and Behavior

Bald eagles are among the largest raptors in North America, with wingspans between six and seven and a half feet. Females are larger than males. They are primarily fish-eaters but will also eat waterfowl, carrion, and small mammals. They mate for life and often return to the same nest year after year, adding to it each season. The largest bald eagle nest ever recorded, in Florida, was nearly ten feet across, twenty feet deep, and weighed more than two tons.

Young bald eagles are dark brown all over — they do not develop the distinctive white head and tail until they are four or five years old.

The Eagle in American Symbols

Beyond the Great Seal, the bald eagle appears on countless American symbols: the Presidential Seal, Department of Defense seals, passports, dollar bills, many state flags, and the emblems of nearly every branch of the U.S. military. The eagle also appears on military challenge coins, unit insignia, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bald eagles are central figures in the cultures of many Native American nations, and eagle feathers play an important role in many ceremonies. Federal law allows federally recognized tribal members to obtain eagle feathers legally through the National Eagle Repository.

Bald Eagle Facts

• The bald eagle is found only in North America. It is not actually a global symbol of raptors.
• Bald eagles can spot fish from more than a mile away and can dive at speeds up to 100 mph.
• In December 2024, Congress passed legislation formally designating the bald eagle as the national bird — a detail that, remarkably, had never been codified before.
• The largest concentrations of bald eagles in the lower 48 today are along the upper Mississippi River and in the Pacific Northwest.
• Alaska is home to roughly half of all bald eagles in the world.