Looking back at the history of the Bald Eagle, the only native sea eagle found in North America, you can see since the founding of the United States, the bird never had an easy life.
Apart from just trying to survive, it’s amazing how much persecution and prejudice this bird (our nation’s symbol nonetheless) faced throughout the 1800’s and well into the 1900’s. From the hyperbole of eagles snatching babies to competing with fishermen in Alaska…many people would have rather seen the bird dead rather than alive. Even ornithologists of the day had mixed views on Baldies.
Knowing what we know now about the bird, you can only look back and shake your head in disbelief at the ignorance of those days.
Then in 1940, when the eagle had just received proper federal protection from the bullet, DDT put a hammer on them, along with many other birds. The insecticide caused very thin and brittle egg shells, so nesting success plummeted throughout the United States.
I’m reminded of all this because I’ve been reading a terrific book called The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird and it covers the history of this “American Eagle” like nothing I have ever read before.
Check it out if you’re into eagles.