The Eagle, Our Beloved National Bird, Part Three

Alexander Wetmore, in his July, 1933, National Geographic Magazine article, Eagle, King of Birds, and His Kin, has included a section of color paintings of the different species of eagles, hawks, kites, condors, and vultures.  The next very interesting group is the Marsh Hawks.

These predators mostly fly close to the ground and eat small mammals.  One unusual feature is that they have heads like owls.  "The face in this species is surrounded by short, stiffened feathers forming a ruff like that found in owls, a feature that is present in no other group of hawks. . . as is often the case with ground-nesting birds, the young wander about on foot near the nest before they are able to fly," (p. 70).

Ah!  There is actually a real "Chicken Hawk!"  "The Cooper's Hawk is the ogre in our world of birds.  Fierce and ruthless, it attacks grouse or other species as large as itself, and destroys smaller birds without the slightest difficulty. . . The bird is bold and fearless in pursuit of its quarry, and has been known to return several times to attack a chicken, even when people were present and threatening it.  It is one of the hawks that merits the name of "chicken hawk" and must be considered entirely destructive," (p. 72).

At last, the author has saved the eagles until nearly the last one!  The golden eagle looks like the bald eagle, our national bird, except where the bald eagle has a white-feathered head, the golden eagle's head feathers are a golden brown.  "The Golden Eagle, one of the most powerful of American birds of prey and a keen and courageous huntsman, is principally an inhabitant of wild and unfrequented areas.  .  . Where prairie dogs are present in large numbers, these are favored food; a pair of eagles will destroy several hundred in the course of a season," (p. 84).

These birds of prey most often build their nests in trees; some will build directly on the ground, but the golden eagle may place its nest on the edge of a cliff.  "Often it is a large structure, as the birds may use the same site year after year and add to the next each season," (p. 84).

The bald eagle, with its magnificent plumage, is  "A bird of great strength and of swift and powerful flight, it is master in its haunts, and has no potent enemies except man.  Its life is led in the vicinity of water and only casually is it found far from that element. . . the food of the bald eagle is mainly fish."  It dives into the water for its food and "Rarely it grapples prey so large that it cannot rise with it and is under necessity of towing it to shore," (p. 87).  What a sight that would be!