The bald eagle is a large, fish-eating, scavenging eagle, weighing 10-to-13 pounds, with a six-to-eight foot wingspan. The adult is mostly dark brown, with a white head, neck and tail. The eyes, feet and hooked bill are yellow. The juvenile is brown mottled with white; the head, neck and tail turn white in the fourth or fifth year. The adult female is larger than the male. An excellent opportunist, the bald eagle locates schools of fish by following sea birds, and sometimes robs the osprey of its prey.

Mainly solitary outside the breeding season, the birds do mate for life and associate freely during courtship and nesting. The large stick nest, used year after year, is usually built in a tall treetop, some 20-to-90 feet above ground. The female lays two white eggs, which both parents incubate for about 35 days. The newly hatched chicks are covered in white down. The adults bring food in their talons and tear it into small pieces at the nest. Competition for food is so great, only one chick usually survives; it reaches maturity in about three years.

Humans contribute to the bald eagle’s decline. Habitats are drained, and the effects of toxic pollutants and pesticides take a high toll. Poison from contaminated prey builds up in the bird’s body, causing eggshell thinning, which in turn causes the eggs to break before hatching. Nationwide conservation efforts have helped bald eagle populations to increase so the bird is no longer on the endangered species list.

The bald eagle was adopted as the national emblem of the U.S. in 1782, and appears on every dollar bill. Both Dallas Zoo bald eagles are wild birds that suffered non-releasable injuries. They usually vocalize when the keeper staff nears their habitat.