BALD EAGLE
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); I have Blipped this bird before. Bald Eagles are indigenous to North America but this one lives in the zoo in Milwaukee at the Raptory Theater.
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He was injured (blind in left eye) and could not be returned to the wild. Instead he serves as an ambassador for Eagle-hood in the theater and in local schools and workshops. People are impressed when they see his 7 foot wing span and piercing yellow-grey eye. Magnificent beast.
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I have mentioned before that I used to work for a fella who banded eagle chicks along the bluffs of the Mississippi River....this was during the time when the species was highly endangered due to DDT use as a pesticide. It washed into the local waters where it entered the food chain and ultimately got into eagles who fished there. It causes brittle egg shells which often broke during incubation. DDT had been banned in the U.S. since 1972. Read Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. Great read.
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My job was to rappel down the bluffs and get the chicks out of the nest and get them up to the boss who banded them, took measurements and blood samples (DDT analysis), etc. and then sent them back to me. Mother eagle objected to this behavior on my part. If you think a 7 foot wing span is intimidating you should be handing 100 feet down a bluff on a rope and have those wings coming right at you at high speed only with talons held out in front of them. It will get your attention.
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Best viewed in Large.
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ADDENDUM: Here's a link to the LIVE Eagle Cam in Decorah, Iowa. Check in often to see that's happening. Egg laying will start pretty soon.
https://explore.org/livecams/bald-eagles/decorah-eagles-north-nest
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