Tareas

* 1) Description:

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) is found only on the North American continent. Its name in Latin means "the sea eagle with a white head" and it is the national symbol of the United States of America. Bald eagles are large, predatory raptors.
The Bald Eagle is a raptor and that means it is a bird of prey. They like to sit on a high perch near water to make iteasier to spot their prey. The Bald Eagle is an amazing predator. Because of this, it is an environment helper. It helps the environment by eating a variety fish and other animals. This is good for the environment because it eats from a variety of different animals. During migration they can travel 400 to 500 miles a day.
In the wild, bald eagles live to between 30 and 35 years. In captivity, theyhave been known to live up to 50 years.
There are two recognized subspecies of Bald Eagle:
* H. l. leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) is the nominate subspecies. It is separated from H. l. washingtoniensis at approximately latitude 38° N, or roughly the latitude of San Francisco. It is found in the southern United States and Baja California.
* H. l. washingtoniensis (Audubon, 1827), synonym H.l. alascanus Townsend, 1897, the northern subspecies, is larger than southern nominate leucocephalus. It is found in the northern United States, Canada and Alaska. This subspecies reaches further south than latitude 38° N on the Atlantic Coast, where they occur in the Cape Hatteras area.

* 1.1) Physical characteristics: (Classification: Vertebrate)
They are dark brown on the body andwings. The head and tail are bright white. The feet and bill of bald eagles are yellow. The bill is large and hooked at the tip.
Juvenile bald eagles look very different from the adults. Young bald eagles are almost entirely brown with occasional white markings on the underside of the wings and chest. As the juvenile gets older, the bill will turn from dark brownish-black to yellow and the headand tail turn white.
The distinct white head and tail of the mature bird is developed between 4-5 years of age.
Like many raptors it has an unusual trait that is called "reversed sexual dimorphism". This means that the female Bald Eagle is generally bigger than the male. In most species, the male is larger than the female. Adult male eagles generally weigh about 9 pounds. Adult females weigh inat between 12 and 13 pounds. Adult eagles have a wing span of up to 7 feet.
The Bald Eagle has five noticeable characteristics that make it very good at the jobs it needs to do in order to survive; these are called special adaptations.
The first adaptation of the Bald Eagle is that it can see four to eight times better and further than humans. The second special adaptation is a bony overhangabove their eyes. This overhang protects the eyes from the sun and potential injury, and helps while flying and searching for food. It shades the bird's eyes from any glare and enables it to see into the water more easily while searching for fish. The third adaptations are the little bumps on the bottom of their feet called spicules. These protruding bumps, along with razor sharp talons, help theeagle hold fish during flight. The final obvious adaptation of the Bald Eagle is their much curved beak. This is used to help tear fish apart while eating.
* 1.2) Habitat:
Bald eagles like lakes (big lakes). During the summer, they can be seen soaring above lakes and in the nearby trees. They prefer lakes and reservoirs with lots of fish and surrounding forests. In the winter, bald eagles canbe seen around unfrozen lakes and hunting along coastlines, reservoirs and rivers. During the migration, bald eagles are seen near all types of water habitats.
The Bald Eagle requires old-growth and mature stands of coniferous or hardwood trees for perching, roosting, and nesting. Selected trees must have good visibility, an open structure, and proximity to prey, but the height or species of...