Image of
the Month
Bald
Eagle
Haliaeetus
leucocephalus
The
bald eagle is our nation's symbol of freedom but a culmination of events
almost took it from us
forever. Hunting, pesticides, and the loss of its natural habitat
brought its population down to dangerously low numbers.
Shortly
after World War II, however, the use of DDT and other organochlorine
pesticides became widespread. Initially, DDT was sprayed extensively
along coastal and other wetland areas to control mosquitoes. Later it
was used as a general insecticide. Eagles ingested the pesticides by
feeding off contaminated fish. These pesticides caused their egg shells
became too thin to withstand the full incubation period.
As
public awareness increased, many states placed the bald eagle on their
lists of endangered species in the 1960s and early 1970s. On July
4,1976, and Wildlife Service officially listed the bald eagle as a
national endangered species in all areas of the United States south of
the 40th parallel, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act
of 1973. Federal and state government agencies, along with private
organizations, successfully sought to alert the public about the eagle's
plight and to protect its habitat. Now, their are an estimated 5,000 to
15,000 nesting pairs inhabiting the lower 48 and upwards of 20,000 pairs
in Alaska.
Very
few species have been successful in fighting their way back from the
United States' endangered species list. The California gray whale, the
American alligator, and the bald eagle are just a few. Once endangered
in all of the lower 48 states, the bald eagle's status was upgraded to
"threatened" in 1994, two decades after the passing of laws to
protect eagles, their nesting trees and regulating the use of harmful
pesticides.
Travel safe and Good
Shooting!
Nikon
D1, Nikon 400f2.8 AFS, Gitzo G1548 tripod w/ Arca Swiss B-2, Lexar 160
10X FlashCard.
