Bald Eagle

Overview

Get to Know Vega!

Bald eagles are found across Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. They typically live alone or in pairs in forested areas near rivers, lakes, or marshes where they can find fish. Bald eagles also live in Maryland year round, mostly along Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. We regularly see bald eagles flying overhead here at the Zoo!

These raptors are big, strong, opportunistic predators. Fish are their main food, and they tend to swoop down and snatch fish in their talons from the water’s surface. They go after many other kinds of food as well, including birds, crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. They hunt, scavenge, and even harass and steal prey from other animals such as ospreys and otters.

The Zoo’s resident eagle, Vega, arrived here in 2014. She was originally found in North Carolina in 2009 with injuries. She went through rehabilitation, but ultimately was not able to fly properly or hunt for herself. She came to live at the Zoo where she can receive proper care. Vega got her name through a public vote. The name comes from an Arabic phrase that means “Swooping Eagle.” She shares her name with a star in the constellation Lyra, which we can see in the summer sky in North America.

Where to Find Me

Vega currently makes her home in the Northern Passage section of the Zoo. She may spend time in any part of her habitat, so visitors should look both high and low to find her.

Special Care

Because Vega was rehabilitated due to injuries, she needs a space that is designed specifically for her. Her wings work to fly, but her old injuries seem to have affected her depth perception. Without proper depth perception, she cannot easily judge distances to perches, which makes flying difficult and possibly dangerous for her. Vega’s current zoo habitat was set up so that she can reach all parts of her space without having to fly and land often.

Conservation Status

Least Concern
This status means that the population of bald eagles living in their native range is doing well. But that has not always been the case. The number of bald eagles declined dramatically between the start of the 18th century and the latter part of the 20th century. Bald eagles were harmed by hunting, loss of their habitat, and pesticides such as DDT. By the late 1970s, bald eagles were in danger of becoming extinct throughout most of their range.

Saving bald eagles from extinction is one of North America’s most successful wildlife conservation stories. Finding the root of the DDT problem was an important step. Scientists learned that the birds ate fish that had been contaminated by the pesticide. The toxins in DDT built up in bald eagles’ systems and caused their eggs to become thin and brittle.The thin eggshells caused by DDT meant that eggs would become crushed easily, and chicks did not survive. The US Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT in 1972, though in other parts of the world DDT is still used to control insects.

In 2007, authorities removed the bald eagle from the Endangered Species list because efforts to protect them have worked! The species is once again doing well throughout most of their range, including Maryland. However, bald eagles are still monitored and protected in the United States. It is illegal to kill, harm, or sell any type of eagle or their eggs or nests.

The Maryland Zoo’s Bald Eagle Exhibit is generously supported by McDonogh School.

Taxonomy

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum: Vertebrata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Accipitriformes
• Family: Accipitridae
• Genus: Haliaeetus
• Species: H. leucocephalus