BlO—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 3,1982 Nation’s winged symbol struggles to survive WASHINGTON, D.C. - The unchallenged star among North American birds, the American bald eagle came to prominence on the nation’s seal 200 years ago. Now it has been honored with a presidential proclamation that makes 1982 the “Year of the Eagle." July 4 is an appropriate day to recognize this bird. With its fierce unconquerable glare, mighty talons, and tremendous wings that permit the eagle to glide effortlessly on wind currents hour after hour, the eagle is a living symbol of freedom, courage, and strength. But fame hasn’t spared the species from dropping to dangerously low numbers. Once it ruled North American skies; now it is endangered in 43 of the 48 contiguous states and threatened in the other five. It is not found in Hawaii, but thrives in Alaska. Hunt and Peck The second largest bird of prey, or raptor, in North America after the California condor, the bald eagle is well adapted to swooping down upon a small creature, gripping it with those long curved talons, and tearing flesh with its hooked yellow beak. It also has an “eagle eye,” extraordinary eyesight five or six times keener than a human’s. £ut there is no truth to the rumor that eagles snatch babies from carriages. James Ruos, bird BLACK REP iBUOH BLUE BROWM ioluA- rouo french bxrior. ERS, JOUST PHD MARQUETTE VIUTBD JOUTP COUNTRYW /673. PIONEERS SETTLEDJH jouJa w the teads. way CP MB FROM TUB EAST AMD SOUTH By R/UER SORT PHD COVERED WP6OHS, THEfFOUNb level land with vbryrich SOIL. ToDpyFRRMLRHDS cchbr more than'nine TENTHS OF TOUR. TUB COUNTRYSIDE IS DOTTED WITH WBLL-/CBPT FARMS. XOLuA BECAME AS7A7EINIB4E>, specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said: "Eagles can lift two pounds easily, but they can lift up to six pounds for only a short time and with very labored flight.” Bald eagles eat mostly fish, anyway. The birds have more often been victims than predators. They were hunted in vast numbers until 1940, when the Bald Eagle Protection Act made it illegal to shoot or kill bald eagles, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and a year in prison. In the ‘sos and ‘6os bald eagles came close to extinction when pesticides m the food supply seriously damaged their ability to reproduce. The compound DDT was banned in 1972, and ‘‘since 1974, reproduction has been in creasing, but very slowly,” Kuos said. There are now some 1,400 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. But the comeback of the eagle will be a long process. “Once the environment is cleaned up enough to no longer affect reproduction, it takes another five or six years for the new eagles to mature,’ ’ he said. At maturity, the eagle develops its adult plumage, characterized by a gleaming white head and dark body. The male courts the female with lavish displays of aerial acrobatics, and the pair stays together for life. Weighing an ORANGE GREEK! PEACLI PINK LT.GREEM 6. 7. 8. 9 • 10. Aerial Acrobatics average 8 to 11 pounds with a 6Mi foot wingspan, the male is smaller then the female. She weighs 10 to 14 pounds and has an astonishing 8- foot wingspan Compulsive next builders, the pair returns to the same nest and adds to its structure year after year. According to the Fish and Great Seal derives from several WASHINGTON, D.C. Ben jamin Franklin wanted a scene showing Moses dividing the Red Sea for the children of Israel, the sea closing behind them to engulf the Pharaoh, and a motto: “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Thomas Jefferson wanted a depiction of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. John Adams leaned toward mythology intead of the Bible, with Virtue urging Hercules to climb moun tains, and Sloth urging him to rest on the ground. In the end, the efforts of these three men came to naught. It took nearly six more years and several other committees to come up with a successful design for the Great Seal of the United States. The Great Seal there is no “lesser seal,” though there is a Presidential Seal that differs slightly was 200 years old on June 20. 1982. The State Depart ment, which has been its custodian since 1789, plans a celebration, and the U.S. Postal Service will issue a commemorative stamped en velope. The actual Great Seal, on public display daily in the State Depart ment’s Exhibit Hall, is a die that creates the impression of the seal, I OaSMOINBS Wildlife Service, the largest recorded nest measured 20 feet deep, 10 feet wide, and weighed 2 tons. The greatest threat to the bald eagle today is the steady loss of habitat, but eagles may be lear ning to coexist peacefully with a higher level of human disturbance. - plus a counter-die and a press. treaty proclamations, ap- It is used 2,000 to 3,000 times a pointmcnts of ambassadors, year to seal a variety of documents cabinet officers, and Mother of after they have signed by the ficials, and ceremonial corn president and the secretary of munications between the president state. Such documents include and other heads of state. “There are reports of eagles nesting successfully on golf courses in Florida and in recreational areas in the Nor thwest,” Ruos said. “The real key is that the public leave the eagles alone during this critical time when they are establishing new nest sites.” # 1- ideas
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