Bald Eagle
The Scuttle Butt that I have been told was the Bald Eagle are in most areas of West Virginia and listed as threatened specie in the lower 48 states including West Virginia. A few nesting pairs of eagles were located in West Virginia but nesting eagles are rare in most areas of the state.
  The white heads and the white tail feathers appear only after the bird is 4 to 5 years old. If you think you have seen a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in West Virginia, you are not alone. Some Eagles can reach a length of 2 1/2 feet from head to tail, and with a wingspan of 7 feet. The bald eagle is truly the "heavyweights" on the Appalachian lakes and rivers with a body weight of approx. 8 to 14 pounds and adult females, larger than the males. This raptor has large, pale yellow eyes and yellow legs, a powerful yellow beak, while the talons are black. The body and wings of the Bald Eagle is dark brown.
Where: Bald Eagles Country
When: 2005
Photographer: Billybob Photo
Submitted by: Bobbie Lauren Driskell
Adopted as the national symbol of the United States in 1782, the bald eagle is an all-American bird and familiar to most Americans.
Wildlife experts believe bald eagles live over 30 years in the wild, they will feed on fish, rodents, snakes, ducks and sometime domestic livestock, in particular chickens, ducks, and other kinds of poultry. |
