The nestlings require a long time to grow and develop to flying size lasting up to three months before the eaglets fledge. Both parents participate in incubation as well as care for and feed the nestlings after hatching. Breeding occurs only once every single year in bald eagles. SPAN Bald eagles live just above 40 years in the wild, and potentially up to 50 years in captivity. The bald eagle has no natural enemies, and it is rare that predation by other animals occurs to the eggs or eaglets.
Man is the major enemy of the bald eagle.
For many years, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species. As bald eagles preyed upon fish, the build up of DDT residues in the females resulted in production of thin fragile egg shells. During incubation, these thin shells cracked and rarely survived causing extremely low reproductive success. The ban of DDT and appreciable efforts to rescue the bald eagle from extinction have recently increased the populations to less critical numbers. The bald eagle has been removed from the endangered species list and is now considered to be threatened.