THE EAGLE: HUNTER, FISHERMAN, SCROUNGER

Bald eagles are the whoppers of North America's raptors.

Packing a wingspread of up to seven and a half feet, a large bald eagle an weigh up to 16 pounds. The largest are the mature females, which can weigh up to about a third more than their male counterparts.

A bald eagle matures sexually and becomes ready to nest and produce young at age 4, or more often, 5 years. That is accompanied by the visible physical change of developing bright white plumage on its head and tail.

Immature bald eagles are dark brown and can be mistaken for hawks, although the eagle is a significantly larger critter.

Eagles are opportunistic feeders, being both hunters and scavengers. The latter is a characteristic for which American founding father Ben Franklin argued against the bald eagle as the national symbol in 1782, favoring instead the wild turkey.

As a predator, an eagle is both a hunter and fisherman. He feeds on fish that he plucks from the surface of lakes, rivers and ponds, and he takes a fair amount of prey on land as well. Rabbits, squirrels, opossums and similar-size animals are included in his game bag.

An eagle wouldn't be adverse to taking some domestic animals and fowl, although his common habitat -- almost always along a large body of water -- keeps such to a minimum.

Frequently on his menu are coots, ducks and geese.

Never one to work hard for a meal when there are easy picking to be had, eagles are receptive to dining on prey that already is deceased. Much of the fish in his diet are floaters, especially the plentiful shad and other forage fish around major waterways. Around waterfowl hunting areas, eagles gladly clean up behind hunters, taking crippled or dead ducks and geese whenever they are available.

Road-kills and dead farm animals are another source of easy meals. Bald eagles, like vultures, don't cull much.

The longevity of bald eagles isn't well known, but captive birds have lived for up to 50 years. They well may develop some lasting relationships, too, because bald eagles tend to mate for life. Unlike the human community, divorces are rare among eagles.

In annual nesting, usually beginning in late February or March, an eagle pair will center operations around a nest constructed in a tall tree. The nest, which may be from 25 to 100 feet high, is built of dead limbs and a lining of grass or moss airlifted into a strong fork of the tree. The materials may be up to two inches in diameter.

Nest usually get new material each year and grow quite large over time. Typically, a nest is about six feet deep and six feet in diameter, a rather significant load up there.

An eagle pair may build two or three nest in an area and occasionally switch use from one to another. Some nests are built, then never used.

Courting, even among eagle couple which are long "married," can be dramatic with airborne rituals and acrobatics.

A mated female eagle usually lays two, occasionally three eggs in her nest in late winter to early spring. They hatch in about 35 days with both mom and pop eagles taking turns with incubation duties.

The resulting eaglets are fed a diet of whatever their parents catch or find. They grow rapidly and are ready to take to the wing and venture toward independence after a period of about 12 weeks.

While young, the eaglets are totally dependent on parents and are susceptible to the elements and potential predation. One regular source of eaglet deaths seems to be great horned owls.

Once they leave the nest, young eagles are rather unprepared for danger and are subject to numerous misfortunes within their first year or so of life. Powerline electrocutions, traps, poisoned carcasses and shooting by vandals claim numerous young birds.

Bald eagles are protected legally by the Bald Eagle Act of 1940, which made killing eagles and having or trading any eagle parts a violation. They were included under the Endangered Species Act in 1978, a move that pumped up penalties for eagle infractions.

Authorities don't look kindly upon anyone who kills an eagle. Doing such could earn one a year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.