Editing Bald eagle (section)

==Relationship with humans==

===Population decline and recovery===
[[File:Trash eagle.jpg|thumb|Inside a waste collection and transfer facility, in [[Homer, Alaska]], United States]]
Once a common sight in much of the continent, the bald eagle was severely affected in the mid-20th century by a variety of factors, among them the thinning of egg shells attributed to use of the pesticide [[DDT]].<ref name=b5/> Bald eagles, like many birds of prey, were especially affected by DDT due to [[biomagnification]]. DDT itself was not lethal to the adult bird, but it interfered with their [[calcium]] metabolism, making them either sterile or unable to lay healthy eggs; many of their eggs were too brittle to withstand the weight of a brooding adult, making it nearly impossible for them to hatch.<ref name="Bull87"/> It is estimated that in the early 18th century the bald eagle population was 300,000–500,000,<ref name=r16/> but by the 1950s there were only 412 nesting pairs in the 48 [[Contiguous United States|contiguous states]] of the US.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalzoo.si.edu/support/adopt/adopt-bald-eagle |title=Adopt a Bald Eagle |publisher=Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute |access-date=August 4, 2018 |date=May 26, 2016 |archive-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209052703/https://nationalzoo.si.edu/support/adopt/adopt-bald-eagle |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/baldeagle/pastsurveys.html |title=South Carolina's Bald Eagles – Past Surveys |publisher=South Carolina Department of Natural Resources |date=2015 |access-date=August 4, 2018}}</ref>
Other factors in bald eagle population reductions were a widespread loss of suitable habitat, as well as both legal and illegal shooting. In 1930 a New York City ornithologist wrote that in the territory of Alaska in the previous 12 years approximately 70,000 bald eagles had been shot. Many of the hunters killed the bald eagles under the long-held beliefs that bald eagles grabbed young lambs and even children with their talons, yet the birds were innocent of most of these alleged acts of predation (lamb predation is rare, human predation is thought to be non-existent).<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 |title=American Bald Eagle Is Near Extinction |magazine=Popular Science Monthly |date=March 1930 |page=62}}</ref> Illegal shooting was described as "the leading cause of direct mortality in both adult and immature bald eagles" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1978.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bald Eagle's Status Listed for 48 States |journal=Endangered Species Technical Bulletin |date=March 1978 |volume=III |issue=3 |page=9}}</ref> Leading causes of death in bald eagles include lead pollution, poisoning, collision with motor vehicles, and power-line electrocution.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264861144 |title=Causes of Mortality in Eagles Submitted to The National Wildlife Health Center 1975–2013 |last1=Russell |first1=Robin E. |last2=Franson |first2=J. Christian |date=December 2014 |journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin |volume=38 |number=4 |pages=697–704 |doi=10.1002/wsb.469 |bibcode=2014WSBu...38..697R}}</ref> A study published in 2022 in the journal Science found that more than half of adult eagles across 38 US states suffered from lead poisoning.<ref name="lead1"/> The primary cause is when eagles scavenge carcasses of animals shot by hunters.<ref name="lead1"/> These are often tainted with lead shotgun pellets, rifle rounds, or fishing tackle.<ref name="lead1">{{cite web |title=Most U.S. eagles suffer from lead poisoning, study suggests |first=Douglas |last=Main |website=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bald-eagles-golden-eagles-lead-poisoning-ammunition |date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223131707/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bald-eagles-golden-eagles-lead-poisoning-ammunition |archive-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="simon" />

The species was first protected in the U.S. and Canada by the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918|1918 Migratory Bird Treaty]], later extended to all of North America. The [[Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act]], approved by the U.S. Congress in 1940, protected the bald eagle and the [[golden eagle]], prohibiting commercial trapping and killing of the birds as well as collecting their eggs.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act |url=https://www.fws.gov/law/bald-and-golden-eagle-protection-act#:~:text=The%20Bald%20and%20Golden%20Eagle,),%20nests,%20or%20eggs. |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]] |language=en}}</ref> The bald eagle was declared an endangered species in the U.S. in 1967, and amendments to the 1940 act between 1962 and 1972 further restricted commercial uses and increased penalties for violators.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/protections.html |title=Federal Laws that Protect Bald and Golden Eagles |publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608055334/https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/protections.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/BaldEagleDelisting.htm |title=Bald Eagle Removed from Endangered Species List |publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420015703/https://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/BaldEagleDelisting.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Perhaps most significant in the species' recovery, in 1972, DDT was banned from usage in the United States due to the fact that it inhibited the reproduction of many birds.<ref name=r13/> DDT was completely banned in Canada in 1989, though its use had been highly restricted since the late 1970s.<ref name=r14/>
[[File:Haliaeetus leucocephalus 38319.JPG|thumb|upright|First-year juvenile bald eagle at [[Anacortes]], Washington, United States]]

With regulations in place and DDT banned, the eagle population rebounded. The bald eagle can be found in growing concentrations throughout the United States and Canada, particularly near large bodies of water. In the early 1980s, the estimated total population was 100,000 individuals, with 110,000–115,000 by 1992;<ref name=hbw/> the U.S. state with the largest resident population is [[Alaska]], with about 40,000–50,000, with the next highest population the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian province]] of [[British Columbia]] with 20,000–30,000 in 1992.<ref name=hbw/> Obtaining a precise count of the bald eagle population is extremely difficult. The most recent data submitted by individual states was in 2006, when 9789 breeding pairs were reported.<ref name="USFWS2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/population/chtofprs.html |title=Bald Eagle Breeding Pairs 1963 to 2006 |date=March 18, 2013 |access-date=December 10, 2013 |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service}}</ref> For some time, the stronghold breeding population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states was in Florida, where over a thousand pairs have held on while populations in other states were significantly reduced by DDT use. Today, the [[Contiguous United States|contiguous state]] with the largest number of breeding pairs of eagles is [[Minnesota]] with an estimated 1,312 pairs, surpassing Florida's most recent count of 1,166 pairs. 23, or nearly half, of the 48 contiguous states now have at least 100 breeding pairs of bald eagles.<ref name="Bio"/> In Washington State, there were only 105 occupied nests in 1980.  That number increased by about 30 per year, so that by 2005 there were 840 occupied nests. 2005 was the last year that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife counted occupied nests. Further population increases in Washington may be limited by the availability of late winter food, particularly salmon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/species/bald_eagle.pdf |title=Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington, 2012 Annual Report |publisher=Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife |access-date=March 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320235925/http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/species/bald_eagle.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The bald eagle was officially removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995, by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]], when it was reclassified from "endangered" to "threatened". On July 6, 1999, a proposal was initiated "To Remove the Bald Eagle in the Lower 48 States From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife". It was de-listed on June 28, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Bald Eagle Decline, Protection and Recovery |access-date=May 30, 2020 |url=https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/History/index.html |archive-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630171147/https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/index.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> It has also been assigned a risk level of [[least concern]] category on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name=iucn/> In the [[Exxon Valdez oil spill|''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill]] of 1989 an estimated 247 were killed in [[Prince William Sound]], though the local population returned to its pre-spill level by 1995.<ref name= Cornell/> In some areas, the increase in eagles has led to decreases in other bird populations<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Parrish |first1=Julia K. |author-link=Julia Parrish |last2=Marvier |first2=Michelle |last3=Paine |first3=Robert T. |title=Direct and Indirect Effects: Interactions Between Bald Eagles and Common Murres |author-link3=Robert T. Paine (zoologist) |date=2001 |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1890/1051-0761(2001)011[1858:DAIEIB]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Ecological Applications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=1858–1869 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(2001)011[1858:DAIEIB]2.0.CO;2 |issn=1051-0761}}</ref> and the eagles may be considered a pest.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Wyatt |title=When the National Bird Is a Burden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/magazine/bald-eagle-national-burden.html?_r=0 |access-date=January 20, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |date=January 19, 2017}}</ref>

===Killing permits===
In December 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed extending the permits issued to wind generation companies to allow them to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per year without facing a penalty, four times the previous number. The permits would last 30 years, six times the previous 5-year term.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wind-energy-permits-raise-kill-limit-bald-eagles/story?id=38881089 |title=New Wind Energy Permits Would Raise Kill Limit of Bald Eagles But Still Boost Conservation, Officials Say |website=ABC News |date=May 4, 2016 |access-date=March 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Daly |first=Matthew |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9a2796aa1e7542348629ea4108fe7695/apnewsbreak-new-rule-would-permit-thousands-eagle-deaths |title=New federal rule would permit thousands of eagle deaths |website=Bigstory.ap.org |date=April 18, 2013 |access-date=March 3, 2017}}</ref>

===In captivity===
[[File:Lady Baltimore, in her habitat.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lady Baltimore (bald eagle)|Lady Baltimore]], a bald eagle in [[Alaska]] who survived a poaching attempt, in her [[Juneau Raptor Center]] [[Mews (falconry)|mews]], on August 15, 2015]]
[[License|Permits]] are required to keep bald eagles in captivity in the United States. Permits are primarily issued to public educational institutions, and the eagles that they show are permanently injured individuals that cannot be released to the wild. The facilities where eagles are kept must be equipped with adequate caging, as well as workers experienced in the handling and care of eagles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Migratory Bird Permits; Possession and Educational Use |publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service |date=September 21, 2010 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/09/21/2010-23342/migratory-bird-permits-possession-and-educational-use |access-date=May 30, 2020}}</ref> The bald eagle can be long-lived in captivity if well cared for, but does not breed well even under the best conditions.<ref name=j11/>

In Canada<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ontario.ca/page/falconry#section-1 |date=May 26, 2016 |title=Birds of prey used for falconry |publisher=Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry}}</ref> and in England<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thefalconrycentre.co.uk/bird-info/birds-gallery/bald-eagle/ |date=June 26, 2018 |title=Courses |publisher=Thirsk Bird of Prey Centre |access-date=October 23, 2018 |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428174641/https://www.thefalconrycentre.co.uk/bird-info/birds-gallery/bald-eagle/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> a license is required to keep bald eagles for [[falconry]].<ref name=r12/> Bald eagles cannot legally be kept for falconry in the United States, but a license may be issued in some jurisdictions to allow use of such eagles in birds-of-prey flight shows.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/01/12/meet-challenger-a-bald-eagle-whose-soaring-skills-are-in-high-demand/ |date=January 12, 2018 |title=Meet Challenger, a bald eagle whose soaring skills are in high demand |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eagles.org/what-we-do/educate/shows-tours-exhibits/ |date=January 12, 2018 |title='Wings of America' Birds of Prey Show |publisher=American Eagle Foundation}}</ref>