Our breakfast companions this morning...

were a pair of bald eagles, resting in trees alongside the "city beach". This one was not the usual 100 feet up in the air so I was able to get a little closer with a not so telephoto lens. I couldn't help but be amazed at how many people did not even see them perched there...he surely saw me!

Bald eagles are one of the large birds of prey native to North America, with a wingspan of about 7 feet (2 meters). (They are second in size only to the California condor and are about the same size as the golden eagle.)

Bald eagles are monogamous and pairs mate for life.

Adult bald eagles weigh 8 to 14 pounds (3.6 to 6.4 kilograms) with the female eagle the larger and heavier of the two genders.

Bald eagles can live a long time, with a longevity record of 28 years in the wild and 36 years in captivity.

Bald eagles' call consists of weak chirping whistles, harsher and shriller from young birds than adults. Calls can be between mating eagles, or to warn of a predator.

They have excellent eyesight and the frontal setting of their eyes gives them excellent binocular vision as well as peripheral vision.

These eagles are powerful fliers; they can reach speeds over 35 mph (56 kph) during level flight and between 75 to 99 mph (121 to 159 kph) in a hunting dive.

Bald eagles hunt cooperatively — one bird will scare prey and another will grab it with its sharp talons.

Bald eagles' favorite food is fish, but they will also eat other birds, ducks, muskrats and sometimes turtles. They also they eat carrion (dead animals) willingly, and are notorious for robbing osprey of their catches.

The eagle's sharp, hooked beak helps it tear through its prey.

The bald eagle's closest relatives include the African fish-eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) of sub-Saharan Africa and the white-tailed sea-eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) of Eurasia


this info from the website of livescience.com.