Bald Eagle Ceramic Tile Small (4.25" x 4.25")

One of the largest raptors, the bald eagle is about 3 feet from head to tail with a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet, yet it only weighs between 9 and 14 pounds (females are larger than males). Eagle bones are light because they are hollow. The skeleton weighs about half a pound and is only 5 or 6 percent of its total weight. The feathers weigh twice that much! The bald eagle's name comes from and old English word balde that means white. Their heads, necks and tails have white feathers. Young bald eagles are hard to identify because their white head and tail feathers don't appear until it is a full five yers old. Bald eagles are powerful fliers that can reach flight speeds between 35 and 44 miles per hour and can soar for hours on end. These strong fliers have about 7,000 feathers. A perched eagle will sit in a tree and preen itself by nibbling on a special oil gland above its tail and smooth the oil over its feathers to keep water from soaking through to the down feathers, which protect the eagle’s skin and keep the bird warm. Eagles make very large nests, which they add to every year. Some nests may reach 10 feet across and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds! They build their nests at the tops of trees close to water where they can catch fish to feed their young. A female bald eagle will lay two or three eggs in the nest each year after reaching adulthood. All eagles are renowned for their excellent eyesight and the bald eagle is no exception. While in flight bald eagles are capable of seeing fish in the water from several hundred feet above. An eagle's eye is almost as large as a human's but its sharpness is at least four times that of a human with perfect vision. And eagles like all birds have color vision. The bald eagle is a beautiful and fascinating animal! But it is still on the road to recovery. Please protect and respect our national symbol, the bald eagle. Photo by: edmccuephotography.com