This being Independence Day, it seems fitting to salute the symbol of our nation’s freedom, the bald eagle.
Much has been written about the bald eagle’s amazing comeback — from tiptoeing on the brink of extinction during the 1960s to record numbers now. In Georgia, surveys earlier this year by Department of Natural Resources biologists found 210 occupied eagle nests, the most ever in the state. Of that number, 166 nests were successful, producing 270 eaglets.
The totals are consistent with the steady increase in bald eagle nestings seen in previous years, said Jim Ozier of DNR’s nongame conservation program.
Here’s a short primer on the bird:
• Not surprisingly, the bald eagle is one of North America’s most studied birds, with more than 2,000 scientific papers and several books published about various aspects of its biology and management.
• It’s Georgia’s earliest nesting bird. A pair of eagles may begin building a nest or repairing an old one as early as September. Nests generally are built in a large tree that has accessible limbs capable of holding a nest that may weigh a ton or more. By Thanksgiving, some eagles may be incubating eggs, usually two per nest.
• The eagle preys on a variety of small mammals, birds and reptiles. Fish, though, is the food it prefers most. It also scavenges carrion when available and pirates food from other raptor species (especially the osprey) when it can.
• The eagle, considered by many Native American tribes to be in direct contact with the upper spirit world, has long been a key symbol in their cultures. Feathers and body parts of bald eagles have shown up regularly in archaeological investigations of prehistoric Native Americans.
• The Rock Eagle effigy mound in Putnam County, east of Atlanta, built 1,000 to 3,000 years ago of white quartzite rock, is in the shape of an eagle and is believed to have been a ceremonial mound.
• While the eagle has long served as a symbol of America’s freedom and democracy, it is today also strongly associated with wilderness and the environmental ethic.
In the sky: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be last-quarter Wednesday. Mercury is low in the east just before dawn. Venus is very bright and is in the west just at dusk and sets about two hours later. Jupiter is low in the west, also at dusk, and sets a few hours later. Saturn is in the southeast just after dark.
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