Let us consider our national bird, the bald eagle. The U.S. Congress approved this bird as our national emblem on June 20, 1782. But not without some vigorous debate, Benjamin Franklin, for one, insisted the wild turkey would be a better choice.
He claimed the bald eagle was a bully and thief, feeding on carrion and stealing fish from the smaller osprey. But Congress overruled Ben and the eagle was approved.
Despite its status as our national bird, the bald eagle was shot by hunters and suffered greatly from pesticide use, especially DDT, in later years. But finally conservation efforts were made and DDT was banned and the eagle began a slow recovery.
In 1940, it finally was given full protection under federal laws, but by 1982, its breeding population outside Alaska was a paltry 1,500 pairs. Since then, it has been on a slow climb back in numbers.
It takes some five years for the head feathers on a bald eagle to turn white as it starts out as basically a big, brown bird. With a wingspan of nearly eight feet, it soars with ease and grace.
The nest of an eagle is quite a production. One nest proved to be some ten feet across and twenty feet deep. Another weighed more than two tons and contained branches six feet long and several inches in diameter.
We have a small resident eagle population of about 600 birds in Texas, mostly along the coastal plain between Corpus Christi and Houston.
All in all, the bald eagle is a most noble bird and quite worthy of being our national symbol. If we had chosen a turkey, we would soon be eating our national bird for our holiday meals.
