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[glogdog]

frehaws - thanks for this tidbit of info.  I googled "Forest Flight" by Ron Parker and what a beautiful painting:

https://www.lighthaven.net/forest-flight

Once again, Raptors The Birds of Prey provides interesting information. (I love this book!)  "The official English and scientific name of North American birds are set by a committee of professionals, The American Ornithologists' Union, but in the past each region had its own names.  Here are some "former names" for Bald Eagles:

White-tailed eagle, American eagle, Bird of Washington (immature named by Audubon), black eagle, gray eagle, sea eagle, Bird of Freedom, white-headed eagle."

[glogdog]

Raptors have been chosen for as namesakes for many towns and geographic features across North America.  Here are just a few that involve the word 'Eagle':

Bald Eagle (PA - 2 sites)                                   
Bald Eagle Mountain (PA)                                   
Black Eagle (MT)                                               
Eagle (AL, CO, ID, NE, NY, PA)
Eagle Bay (NY)
Eagle Bend (MN)
Eagle Butte (SD)
Eagle Cap (OR)
Eagle City (OK)
Eagle Crags (CA)
Eagle Furnace (TN)
Eagle Grove (IA)
Eagle Harbor (MD, MI, NY)
Eagle Mountain Lake (TX)
Eagle Springs (NC)

More to come later (or please feel free to add if you have one in your hometown).

[glogdog]

Classification of Bald Eagles:

    Kingdom Animalia (the animals)
    Phylum Chordata
    Subphylum Vertebrata (animals with backbones)
    Class Aves (Birds)
    Order Falconiformes (hawks: falcons, accipiters, buteos, kites and eagles)
    Family Accipitridae
    Genus Haliaeetus (sea eagles)
    Species leucocephalus (meaning "white head" in Greek)

[BHscent]

Classification of Bald Eagles:

    Kingdom Animalia (the animals)
    Phylum Chordata
    Subphylum Vertebrata (animals with backbones)
    Class Aves (Birds)
    Order Falconiformes (hawks: falcons, accipiters, buteos, kites and eagles)
    Family Accipitridae
    Genus Haliaeetus (sea eagles)

Love learning more and more. Thank You!
    Species leucocephalus (meaning "white head" in Greek)

[glogdog]

You're welcome, BH!

There is not a whole lot of information on the fossil record for birds of prey.  Scott Weidensaul tells us that the first modern raptors show up as fossils from the Eocene epoch some fifty million years ago, specifically sea-eagles (kin to modern bald eagles) and booted eagles of the genus Aquila, like the golden eagle. 

[glogdog]

Here are some areas in the United States where Bald Eagles are common:

Chilkat River Bald Eagle Preserve - Alaska
Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area - Washington
Three Sisters, Caldwell, Cougar Roosts - California
Ferry Bluff Eagle Sanctuary - Wisconsin
Eagle Valley - Wisconsin
Prairie State Eagle Refuge - Illinois
Glacier National Park - Montana
Yellowstone National Park -  Wyoming
Everglades National Park - Florida
Bear River National Wildlife Refuge - Utah
Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge - Missouri
Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge - Tennessee
San Luis Valley - Colorado
Chippewa National Forest - Minnesota
Chesapeake Bay - Maryland, Virginia, Delaware

[glogdog]

Here are some of the interesting statistics from Mark Stalmaster's book, The Bald Eagle, published in 1987. The following were some major food sources of nesting Bald Eagles:

In North Central Minnesota - Bullheads (35%), suckers (29%), and northern pike (14%)
In Louisiana - Catfish and coots (42%), waterfowl (16%), muskrats, nutria (also known as the river rat.)
In Northern Idaho - Yellow perch (72%), an all-fish diet.
Klamath Lake Oregon - Grebes, ducks, chubs, and suckers were most common. 13 birds, 8 fish, and 5 mammal species.
Yellowstone National Park - Various waterfowl species, cutthroat trout, 3 fish, 9 bird, and 4 mammal species.
Southeastern Alaska, 1955 - Salmon, trout, pollack, and cod (34%), a large diversity of prey and carrion.
Southeastern Alaska, 1975 - Salmon, trout, and herring, majority of prey items.
North Central Florida - Brown bullheads and blue & white catfishes (59%, American coots (19%), a total of 10 fish, 12 bird, and 9 mammal species. 

[glogdog]

Of all of the recognized constellations, only one is considered to have the shape of a raptor - Aquila, the Eagle, an easily seen pitchfork-shaped arrangement near Hercules in the Northern Hemisphere.  Aquila includes the bright star, Altair, the upper point in the "Summer Triangle" with the stars Deneb and Vega.  (Vega is in the constellation Lyra, the Harp, which was once known as Vultur, the Vulture.)

In Greek astronomy, Aquila may represent one of several mythological eagles, including the bird that carried Ganymede to heaven.  Another legend says that the stars are the king Meropes, who was changed into an Eagle by Hera to quiet his grieving.

Here's a link showing you what Aquila looks like in the night time sky as well as more information:

https://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/aquila 

[glogdog]

Here are some interesting Falconry Terms that are also used for Bald Eagles:

Brancher - Prefledgling raptor that has scrambled out of the nest into the surrounding branches.
Casting - Pellet of indigestible fur, feathers, and bones regurgitated by raptors several hours after a meal.
Eyrie (Aerie) - Raptor nest (especially a cliff ledge).
Feak - Hawk's act of wiping its beak after feeding.
Hood - Leather device that covers the hawk's head (except the beak), blindfolding it and keeping it calm.
Jesses - Leather straps affixed to the hawk's tarsus, and clipped to the leash.
Mews - Enclosed area where hunting raptors are kept.
Rouse - Action in which a raptor raises, shakes, and lowers its body feathers.
Warble - Stretching wings

[glogdog]

In Pro Football, we have the Philadelphia Eagles.

In College Football, here are some of the teams known as the 'Eagles':

AIB College of Business - Des Moines, IA
Alabama Southern - Monroeville, AL
Arizona Christian University - Phoenix, AZ
Boston College - Chestnut Hill, MA
Carson Newman College - Jefferson City, TN
Eastern Michigan - Ypsilanti, MI
Emory - Atlanta, GA
Faith Baptist - Ankeny, IA
Florida Gulf Coast University - Fort Myers, FL
Houston Community College - Houston, TX
Moorehead State - Moorehead, KY
North Texas - Denton, TX
Oklahoma Christian  - Oklahoma City, OK
Polk State College - Winter Haven, FL
University of Northwestern - St Paul, MN
West Coast Baptist College - Lancaster, CA
Winthrop - Rock Hill, SC

[glogdog]

Eagles appear frequently in the Bible.  Here are a few excerpts:

Deuteronomy 32.11  As an eagle incites its nestlings forth by hovering over its brood, So he spread his wings to receive them and bore them up on his pinions.

2 Samuel 1.23  Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, separated neither in life nor in death, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

Psalm 103.5  He fills your lifetime with good; your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Proverbs 23.5  While your glance fits to it, it is gone! for assuredly it grows wings, like the eagle that flies toward heaven.

Isaiah 40.31  They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

[glogdog]

Oddly enough, although our national symbol is the Bald Eagle, a raptor, none of the states has chosen one as its official state bird.  Most picked songbirds.  There are a few game species like grouse or pheasants, and several others, waterbirds like loons, pelicans, or gulls.  Even  Mississippi, known long as the Eagle State because of the Bald Eagle on its coat of arms, chose a mockingbird.  Here is the list of State Birds.  Check it out:

http://www.50states.com/bird/#.Vn-8cRUrLIU 

[glogdog]

Here's a neat link giving some information about "Eagle-watching Festivals" along the Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Illinois rivers:   

http://midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/nature/birds_wildlife/eagle_watching_mississippi_river.html

[glogdog]

  "It is said the eagle was used as a national emblem because, at one of the first battles of the Revolution (which occurred early in the morning) the noise of the struggle awoke the sleeping eagles on the heights and they flew from their nests and circled about over the heads of the fighting men, all the while giving vent to their raucous cries. "They are shrieking for Freedom," said the patriots.
   Thus the eagle, full of the boundless spirit of freedom, living above the valleys, strong and powerful in his might, has become the national emblem of a country that offers freedom in word and thought and an opportunity for a full and free expansion into the boundless space of the future."

--Maude M. Grant

[tulsaducati]

Here's a link to some great eagle-watching places & events in Oklahoma:  http://www.travelok.com/article_page/top-10-places-for-eagle-watching-in-oklahoma
To find eagle-watching opportunities in other states, just Google "eagle watching in (insert your state name)" & you'll find lots of events, tours, maps etc. to hold you over until Decorah activity picks up!