Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A bald eagle draws wings back as it comes into the nest for a landing. Bald eagles generally lay 2 to 3 eggs in a large nest made of sticks and smaller twigs in tall trees or on rocky cliffs.
 

The bald eagle is our country's national symbol.

In 1977, there were only 41 pairs of bald eagles nesting in Maryland and wildlife biologists feared they might become extinct.

Today more than 380 pairs of bald eagles nested in Maryland last year, and their listing has been upgraded from endangered to threatened, thanks to 25 years of restoration efforts.

See them up close!

Bald eagle sightings are fairly common at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Blackwater is the center of the greatest nesting density of bald eagles in the eastern United States north of Florida.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Learn more about the Bald Eagle

Photo of eagle chicks, courtesy of Dave Menke,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service