Episode Number
62
Episode Show Notes / Description
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
A conservation success story and the national symbol of the United States.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- Bald Eagle call by Gerrit Vyn (ML505974)
- Bald Eagle screech by Gregory Budney (ML505975)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bald-eagle
- Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC.
- Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
The image of this bird is well known and most can ID it in a glance; either by their distinctive head color or by their enormous, broad wingspan, appearing almost like a flying 2x6. But given only their wimpy, gull like call, you’d be forgiven for not knowing the bird’s true identity; Hollywood is to blame there – they often use the red tailed hawk’s fierce screech as a stand-in for the sound of the United States’ national symbol. This is the Bald eagle.
I’ve talked to many people who never thought they’d see a bald eagle in Illinois, not after the use of DDT drove their numbers down throughout most of the 20th century. After that pesticide was banned in 1972 and the endangered species act passed in the following year, the population recovered and now you can find these enormous birds all throughout the state, especially near rivers and big lakes. Here’s the bald eagle again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
The image of this bird is well known and most can ID it in a glance; either by their distinctive head color or by their enormous, broad wingspan, appearing almost like a flying 2x6. But given only their wimpy, gull like call, you’d be forgiven for not knowing the bird’s true identity; Hollywood is to blame there – they often use the red tailed hawk’s fierce screech as a stand-in for the sound of the United States’ national symbol. This is the Bald eagle.
I’ve talked to many people who never thought they’d see a bald eagle in Illinois, not after the use of DDT drove their numbers down throughout most of the 20th century. After that pesticide was banned in 1972 and the endangered species act passed in the following year, the population recovered and now you can find these enormous birds all throughout the state, especially near rivers and big lakes. Here’s the bald eagle again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW