After America became a nation in 1776, the next chore commissioned by congress was that founding fathers 鈥淒r. Franklin, Mr. J Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a committee to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America.鈥� Six years and several committees later, the bald eagle had landed the position.
And why not? The eagle held a place of strength and honor that often appears in coats of arms. And the Romans, whose republic the founding fathers emulated, seemed to relish the raptor, using it as a military and ceremonial symbol.
Winter visitors and native Arizonans
The bibliophile Ben Franklin knew better. He complained about the choice in a letter to his daughter where he wrote the bald eagle was 鈥渁 Bird of bad moral Character鈥� that 鈥渄oes not get his Living honestly.鈥� True?
鈥淏ald eagles do tend to be a little more opportunistic than the golden eagles,鈥� said Kenneth 鈥淭uck鈥� Jacobson, raptor management coordinator for Arizona Game & Fish Department. Golden eagles, Jacobson said, 鈥渁re the part of the family that are a little more noble. They are much more secretive and prefer being in areas where there are not a whole lot of people around. So people don鈥檛 see golden eagles nearly as often as they do the bald eagles these days.鈥�
Right now there are more bald eagles than at any other time of the year in Arizona. Currently there are two sets residing in the state鈥攖hose that migrate from northern latitudes of the U.S. to escape their frigid winters and Arizona bald eagles, which will migrate north when the weather heats up but return in the winter to breed.
Arizona eagles now nesting
The Arizona bald eagles have by now gotten their nests together, which can measure six feet across. Jacobson said some Arizona eagles are already on eggs. Bald eagles usually prefer a nest 50+ feet up and in sight of water, but the range of choices always surprises Jacobson.
鈥淭here are some pairs that are very tolerant of human activity and nest on golf courses with all kinds of activity going on below the nest, and as long as it stays on the ground, they鈥檙e fine with it,鈥� Jacobson said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e got other pairs in more remote areas that don鈥檛 like you getting anywhere close to them.鈥�
Another surprising bit of info about eagles is their size. Females are generally 25% bigger than males and the young are bigger than adults.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a common belief that young bald eagles are much smaller than adults,鈥� Jacobson said. 鈥淏y the time bald eagles are able to fly, they鈥檙e actually a little bit bigger than adults. Their wing feathers, tail feathers and flight feathers are a little bit longer and wider than adults. They act as training wheels for that first year when the birds are learning to fly. A lot of times someone will see a bird that鈥檚 kind of colored like an eagle and small, 鈥極h that鈥檚 a young eagle.鈥� Nope, that鈥檚 probably a different type of hawk or raptor.鈥�
Back from the brink
When the bald eagle became the national symbol, the nation had up to 100,000 nesting pairs in just about every state. But not everyone saw them as a national treasure. Bald eagles, like buffalo, were shot indiscriminately for target practice. Ranchers saw them as a threat to their livestock and shot them or, as one woman did in 1906, beat the bird with a club.
Golden eagles have been documented taking down range animals, but bald eagles prefer to scavenge or fish. With 20/5 vision that can spot an animal the size of a rabbit three miles away, they can easily spot fish from afar. This pescatarian preference almost wiped them out.
In the early 1950s, the pesticide DDT was extensively used. The residue washed into waterways, and aquatic plants and fish absorbed it. When bald eagles ate the fish, they were poisoned. Females produced eggs with shells too weak to last to a hatch. By 1963, only 417 known nesting pairs remained. In 1978, the bald eagle was added to the list of endangered species.
The bald eagle recovered so remarkably, the raptor was removed from the endangered list in 2006. During the recovery, Northern Arizona Audubon Society volunteer Elaine Morrall, since deceased, did bald eagle surveys on Anderson Mesa and at Mormon Lake.
鈥淪tatewide we have 97 known bald eagle territories that we monitor,鈥� Jacobson said, 鈥渦p from about 12 in 1978. For the golden eagles, we鈥檝e been monitoring since 2011, there are 350 golden eagle territories across the state.鈥�
Eagles still have protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Both laws prohibit killing, selling or harming eagles or their nest or the eggs.
Where eagles fly
Jacobson said the best place to view bald eagles around Flagstaff is Upper and Lower Lake Mary.
鈥淧ull over into some of those pullouts and scan the trees and in and around and across the lake,鈥� Jacobson recommended. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a good chance of seeing full adults all the way to first-year birds. You can see quite the transition of the plumage right outside of Flagstaff.鈥�
Other viewing areas include Dead Horse State Park and the Prescott-area lakes (Goldwater Lake, Watson, Willow, Lynx lakes). The Verde Canyon Railroad in Clarkdale has a spokesperson from Liberty Wildlife speak about bald eagles, which roost along the river.
As for sighting those secretive golden eagles that tend to shun people, maybe plan to join the next NAAS Christmas Bird Count. While scouting this past count, NAAS president Kay Hawklee saw a golden eagle doing a steep undulating flight display.
鈥淚t was super cool,鈥� Hawklee recalled. 鈥淣one of us had ever seen this behavior in golden eagles before. It was climbing high and then stopping鈥攑ulling in its wings to increase speed as it goes lower鈥攖hen repeating the behavior over and over for about eight times. In the winter they will do this not as a mating display, but because it was defending its territory. Shortly thereafter we observed a red-tailed hawk attacking the juvenile golden eagle, which led us to believe that perhaps the eagle was defending its territory from the red-tailed hawk.鈥�
Ben Franklin, in his letter鈥檚 lament about the bald eagle, also wrote, 鈥淏esides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District.鈥� Clearly, the good doctor鈥檚 account does not apply to the golden eagle.