Eagle:
  Since the first census records were kept of the bald eagle in the 1800's there has been a continuous decline in
their population. Bald eagles were endangered in 43 states and threatened in five. However the bald eagle was
relatively abundant only in Alaskan and Canadian wilderness areas. Historically, bald eagles had been
observed in all of the United States except Hawaii.
  Man is the bald eagle's main enemy and predator. During migration, breeding, and winter periods the bald
eagle requires a large home range area, leaving itself vulnerable to habitat destruction by man. Also
environmental problems have decreased the population of bald eagles. The most serious ones are pollution by
pesticides and heavy metals that contaminate streams and fish, in turn stopping the Bald Eagle's food chain.
  During the 1940s, the number of hatched eaglets recorded by field biologists rapidly declined. This was
because of a fatal eggshell thinning that was the result from exposure to DDE a metabolic by product of DDT
which is a organochlorinated pesticide. They received this pesticide mainly through the fish they ate because
the rivers were contaminated by the poison.
  Because of all the pesticides that killed these magnificent birds in the 1960's the Bald Eagle was named America's
most polluted Bird. A nation wide ban was made on the use of DDT, there was an increase in wildlife protection
and rehabilitation efforts, more field studies and a captive program that have aided in the recovery of this species.