Coal Creek Wildlife-Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle by Lyndi, age 9

He looks high up in the beautiful blue sky, looking for its prey. As the bald eagle flies fast and close to the water, it traps a squirming fish with its talons. It flies back up showing off his shiny golden eight feet wide wings.

Fish, reptiles, rabbits, rats, ferrets and other small animals are their diet. The bald eagle's length is about 30 to 36 inches. They can live up to 47 years. They protect their babies with strong, sharp talons. The female lays one to three dull-white or bluish-white eggs. Eagles live on all continents, except Antarctica, in wet jungles, forests, sea coasts or mountains. Hundreds of bald eagles are here in Colorado from October to May, while a few nest here all through the year.

I got my infomation Nature's Children, BALD EAGLE by Laima Dingwall.

Bald Eagle by Kerry, age 8

A big bird swoops down to a lake, dips its feet in the water and brings out his next meal and takes it to his nest. This bold, magnificent, strong bird is the bald eagle. A bald eagle eats fish, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates. Bald eagles live in Colorado near rivers and lakes, but only in the winter. In the San Luis Valley, 200-300 bald eagles come each winter. Their nests are very large. The biggest can be as large as a small car. Bald eagles were being threatened in Colorado. Not long ago bald eagles became scarce because of a chemical called DDT used to kill bugs. But now they are being taken off the endangered list.

I got my information from BALD EAGLES by Sandra Lee and COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke.

Q: Who became the U.S.A.'s national bird in 1782?
A: The Bald Eagle!
by Stephanie A., age 9

Did you know the bald eagle is Colorado's winter visitor and that they gather at the Alamosa and Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge? Well, there's more where that came from! They build nests called aerie. An aerie is made of sticks and lined with moss, grass and leaves. In May and June they lay their eggs. They lay 2 eggs at once. In about 1 month the eggs hatch. Unlike most birds the adults take turns sitting on the eggs. The bald eagle is about 3 feet long including the tail feathers. They weigh 8 to 13 pounds and their wingspan is 6 to 8 feet across. They carry their meal to a treetop. It takes one to two days for them to digest their food.

Who used the Bald eagle`s feathers? The Utes used their feathers. The feathers were used for ceremonial clothing. Bald eagles were dying because of DDT, a chemical used to kill bugs. But ever since the effort to try to help bald eagles, the number of eagles has increased and soon they may be taken off the endangered species list.

Check out these books for more information about bald eagles: BALD EAGLES by Sandra Lee and COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke

Please sign our GUESTBOOK