NATIONAL AMERICAN EAGLE DAY

June 20 NATIONAL AMERICAN EAGLE DAY.  It is sponsored by The National Eagle Foundation. The following article is from www.NationalDayCalendar.com:

This day is set aside to honor our national symbol, raise awareness for protecting the Bald Eagle, assist in the recovery of their national environments, and to take part in educational outreach.

The Bald Eagle is both the National Bird and also the National Animal of the United States of America and appears on the Great Seal of the United States.

In the latter twentieth century, the Bald Eagle was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States.  Eventually, populations of the bird recovered and in July, 1995, the species was removed from the United States Federal Government's List of Endangered Species and transferred to the List of Threatened Species.  In June, 2007, the Bald Eagle was withdrawn from the List Of Endangered And Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States of the United States.

The Bald Eagle's range includes most of Canada, all of the contiguous United States and Northern Mexico.  The eagles can be found near large bodies of open water where there is an abundant food supply and old-growth  trees for nesting.

Opportunistic feeders, Bald Eagles survive mainly on fish, swooping down and snatching fish from the water.  Their nests are the largest nests of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species.  The largest eagle's nest was found in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The nest measured 9.5 feet in diameter and was 20 feet deep;  it weighed nearly three tons!

The name Bald Eagle derives from an older meaning of "white-headed", as the bird is actually NOT bald.  Adult eagles are mainly brown with a white head and tail.

For more information visit www.eagle.org.