The picture above is the first Bald Eagle that Margaret photographed in Quail Valley. It is a mature male. Margaret captured a second Bald Eagle, but the picture was only good enough for identification. In fact, the bird is likely about 3 years old as he does not have his breeding white tail feathers that he will acquire in a year or so.
The national emblem of the United States, the Bald Eagle is a conservation success moving from the Endangered Species list to "threatened" in 1995 and removed from the list altogether in 2007. They are true Raptors so they hunt prey.
Regarding the eating
habits of Bald Eagles, Margaret did a little research. Their preferred food is
fish, then birds (mainly water birds like coots and small ducks), with mammals
and reptiles comprising a small percentage of their diet. They like
carrion, so road kill or the prey of another bird or mammal is the source of
some of their food. On average, they can only fly with prey that are up
to half their weight, and they weigh around 8 pounds. Most of their prey falls
in the 2 to 4 pound range. The eagles forage mainly along waterways and
lakes and prefer to be away from humans.
While it's possible for a Bald Eagle to take small cats and dogs given an opportunity, that's not their preference. Living with nature includes living with predators (alligators, coyotes, eagles, hawks, owls) and the wise pet owner supervises their little guys.
Photos copyrighted by Margaret Sloan. Stories and photos written by Margaret and Janice Scanlan.
Keep visiting, we are posting birds and habits as the visit the area and time permits of Winter and other varieties of birds that live or visit Quail Valley and Fort Bend.
To learn more in depth on the Bald Eagle or hear actual bird calls, Cornell University has a wonderful website, press here to visit.
To see a more complete photo album of Birds from Quail Valley and Fort Bend, Birds of Quail Valley.
Margaret, I enjoyed looking at some of your photo's.
Please come and visit my Bird exhibit at the new Sugar land Museum of Natural Science starting this May 28. All the info is on my web site,,,,,,bobpack.com
Sincerely,
Bob Pack
Posted by: Bob Pack | 05/16/2010 at 02:24 PM