Bald Eagle

Linnean Classification: Eukarya, Animalia, Chordata, Aves, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Haliaeetus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Regulator: Bald Eagles are Regulators because they are warm-blooded organisms with the ability to regulate and maintain a relatively stable and constant internal environment and temperature (homeostasis), even with the variability of external environments.

Migration: Bald Eagles migrate in the late autumn and early winter. In the winter lakes and rivers in Bald Eagle nesting grounds freeze over, forcing the Bald Eagles to migrate south in search of food.

Generalist: Bald Eagles are able to live in a variety of environments or biomes, and their bodies are not specialized to any one specific method of obtaining food/survival. They can catch fish or eat road kill and other carrion they find. They can be found along sea coasts to marshes and bodies of water, from colder lands in Alaska to the warmer temperatures of Mexico.

Consumer: It is a consumer, as it cannot produce it’s own food but must consume other organisms to get the nutrients and energy its needs.

Carnivore: Bald Eagles are carnivores. They often scavenge and rob from other birds. They feed on fish, and small animals like ducks and rabbits, turtles, and snakes.

Niche: Bald eagles live in North America near swamps, lakes, oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water with access to fish. They mainly consume fish, which consists of 90% of their diet. However, they will eat whatever they can catch - including small rodents, birds, dead meat, and even food from other birds. Bald Eagles tend to feed on the slower, weaker, and injured animals within their ecosystem. They nest and perch in tall forest trees. As Bald Eagles are large and powerful birds, they have no natural predators.