People who’ve never experienced the magic of the Midwest sometimes like to call Missouri one of those “flyover” states. Fortunately for us, bald eagles disagree. Sure they may flyover quite a few of our bodies of water, but contrary to those anti-Midwest curmudgeons, they stick around!

Missouri is one of the leading bald eagle states. Thousands of them migrate south from Canada and the Great Lakes and because of Missouri’s big rivers, lakes (of which Innsbrook has just a few), and wetlands, they like to hunt for prey here.

Since we’ve been spotting more than a few bald eagles at Innsbrook in the past couple months, let’s see if we can learn something new, or maybe just refresh our memories, about this symbolic bird of prey.

A quick timeline of major events:

1782: Bald eagle formally adopted as our national emblem.
1978: Bald eagle declared endangered in 43 states (including Missouri).
2007: Bald eagle delisted from endangered status (it’s still a “species of conservation concern” in Missouri).

Bald eagles have a massive 6 ½ to 8-foot wingspan and they weigh 10-14 pounds. The female is slightly larger than the male.

Photo by Craig McConnell

They fly 20 to 40 miles per hour and can reach speeds of more than 100 MPH while diving!

Photo by Cecile Diemert

A bald eagle’s call is a series of chirps or a loud screaming whistle (have you ever heard one?).

Eagle over Lake Powderhorn. Photo by Kurt White

The oldest a bald eagle has been known to live is 28 years in the wild and 36 years in captivity.

They hunt cooperatively – one bird will scare prey and another will grab it.

Eagles over Alpine Dam. Photo by Kurt White

Bald eagles have more than 7,000 feathers.

Photo by Jim Teeple

Of all the birds in the world, bald eagles hold the record for biggest nest ever built – it was estimated to weigh more than two tons (4,409 pounds)! It was found in Florida and very old – most likely being built onto by the eagles for years.

Do you know any other fascinating facts about bald eagles?