O ur National Bird, the bald eagle is perhaps the best known bird of prey. Adults are easily recognized by their pure white head and tail. Bald eagles younger than five years lack the white head and tail and vary from solid brown to blotched white. B ald eagles are often seen in trees along river and lake shores. From this vantage they spy fish, their primary food.
Dozens sometimes concentrate at wetlands where they scavenge for dead and dying waterfowl.
Over 3,000 now winter in Missouri and Kansas as compared to only a few hundred in the 1970s. March, most wintering eagles have departed for northern breeding grounds. An increasing number, however, remain in Missouri and Kansas to nest over 60 in 1999, up from none in 1980. This dramatic population rebound followed their declaration as endangered and the banning of DDT in 1972. Bald eagles still face problems from indiscriminate shootings and the removal of bottomland forests.