📸 PhotoPhoto: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle · ハクトウワシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its average weight of 4.3 kg is heavier than a head of napa cabbage (about 2–3 kg) (Comparison).
- 💡 According to ADW, in 1989 about 20–30 million people were estimated to participate in birdwatching, an industry worth up to about 20 billion dollars annually, making this a highly sought-after bird.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey living near large bodies of water in North America and has been the national symbol of the United States since 1782. Adults have a brown body with a snowy white head, neck, and tail.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Adults have a white head, neck, and tail with yellow irises, beak, and feet. Juveniles are mottled brown and do not acquire full adult plumage until 4–5 years of age.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Preferring fish above all, it snatches fish near the water surface with its talons, and also eats waterbirds, small mammals, and carrion. It mates for life, begins breeding around 5 years of age, and both sexes build the nest together 1–3 months before egg-laying.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22695144/264598530
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 264598530
- • wikidata.org — Q127216
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Kachemak Bay, Ala
- • animaldiversity.org — Haliaeetus leucocephalus
- • nationalzoo.si.edu — bald-eagle
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Steve Hillebrand/U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (source photo), T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.