Editing Bald eagle (section)

===Fish===
[[File:Haliaeetus leucocephalus in flight 2cr.jpg|thumb|right|In flight with freshly caught fish]]
[[File:31 White-headed Eagle.jpg|thumb|left|Feeding on catfish and other various fishes.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Audubon |first=John James |date=1840 |title=White-headed or bald Eagle, ''Haliaetus leucocephalus'', Linn. [Pl. 14] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/319127 |journal=The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories |volume=1 |pages=57––64 |doi=10.5962/p.319127}}</ref> Painted by [[John James Audubon]]]]
In [[Southeast Alaska]], fish comprise approximately 66% of the year-round diet of bald eagles and 78% of the prey brought to the nest by the parents.<ref name="Armstrong"/> Eagles living in the [[Columbia River Estuary]] in [[Oregon]] were found to rely on fish for 90% of their dietary intake.<ref name="Watson2"/>  At least 100 species of fish have been recorded in the bald eagle's diet.<ref name= Sherrod2/> From observation in the Columbia River, 58% of the fish were caught alive by the eagle, 24% were scavenged as carcasses and 18% were pirated away from other animals.<ref name="Watson2"/>

In the [[Pacific Northwest]], spawning [[trout]] and [[salmon]] provide most of the bald eagles' diet from late summer throughout fall.<ref name="Alaska"/> Though bald eagles occasionally catch live salmon, they usually scavenge spawned salmon carcass.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robards |first1=Fredrick C. |first2=Allan |last2=Taylor |first3=Allan |last3=Dwight |title=Bald Eagles in Alaska |year=1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kalmbach |first1=E. R. |first2=Ralph H. |last2=Imler |first3=Lee W. |last3=Arnold |title=The American eagles and their economic status |year=1964}}</ref> Southeast Alaskan eagles largely prey on [[pink salmon]] (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha''), [[coho salmon]] (''O. kisutch'') and, more locally, [[sockeye salmon]] (''O. nerka''), with [[Chinook salmon]] (''O. tshawytscha'').<ref name="Armstrong"/> Due to the Chinook salmon's large size ({{convert|12|to|18|kg|lb|abbr=on}} average adult size) probably being taken only as carrion and a single carcass can attract several eagles.<ref name="Armstrong"/> Also important in the estuaries and shallow coastlines of southern Alaska are [[Pacific herring]] (''Clupea pallasii''), [[sand lance|Pacific sand lance]] (''Ammodytes hexapterus'') and [[eulachon]] (''Thaleichthys pacificus'').<ref name="Armstrong"/> In Oregon's Columbia River Estuary, the most significant prey species were [[largescale sucker]]s (''Catostomus macrocheilus'') (17.3% of the prey selected there), [[American shad]] (''Alosa sapidissima''; 13%) and [[common carp]] (''Cyprinus carpio''; 10.8%).<ref name="Watson2"/> Eagles living in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] in [[Maryland]] were found to subsist largely on [[American gizzard shad]] (''Dorosoma cepedianum''), [[threadfin shad]] (''Dorosoma petenense'') and [[white bass]] (''Morone chrysops'').<ref name="Mersmann"/> Floridian eagles have been reported to prey on [[catfish]], most prevalently the [[brown bullhead]] (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') and any species in the genus ''[[Ictalurus]]'' as well as [[mullet (fish)|mullet]], [[trout]], [[needlefish]], and [[American eel|eel]]s.<ref name="Travsky"/><ref name="FPL"/><ref name=j5/> [[Chain pickerel]]s (''Esox niger'') and [[white sucker]]s (''Catostomus commersonii'') are frequently taken in interior [[Maine]].<ref name = 'Todd.'>{{cite journal |last1=Todd |first1=C. S. |display-authors=et al |title=Food habits of bald eagles in Maine |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |year=1982 |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=636–645 |doi=10.2307/3808554 |jstor=3808554}}</ref> Wintering eagles on the [[Platte River]] in [[Nebraska]] preyed mainly on American gizzard shads and common carp.<ref name=j15/> Bald eagles are also known to eat the following fish species: [[rainbow trout]] (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''), [[white bullhead|white catfish]] (''Ameiurus catus''), [[rock greenling]] (''Hexagrammos lagocephalus''), [[Pacific cod]] (''Gadus macrocephalus''), [[Atka mackerel]] (''Pleurogrammus monopterygius''), [[largemouth bass]] (''Micropterus salmoides''), [[northern pike]] (''Esox lucius''), [[striped bass]] (''Morone saxatilis''), [[dogfish shark]] (''Squalidae.sp'') and [[Blue walleye]] (''Sander vitreus'').<ref name="animaldiversity.org">{{cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Haliaeetus_leucocephalus/ |title=''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'' (Bald eagle) |website=[[Animal Diversity Web]]}}</ref><ref name = 'Thomas C'>{{cite journal |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Dunstan |first2=James F. |last2=Harper |year=1975 |title=Food Habits of Bald Eagles in North-Central Minnesota |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=140–143 |doi=10.2307/3800476 |jstor=3800476}}</ref><ref name = 'Beans'>{{cite book |last=Beans |first=Bruce E. |title=Eagle's Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America's Bald Eagle |year=1996 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-80696-9 |oclc=35029744 |url=https://archive.org/details/eaglesplumestrug00bean}}</ref>

Fish taken by bald eagles varies in size, but bald eagles take larger fish than other piscivorous birds in North America, typically range from {{convert|20|to|75|cm|in|abbr=on}} and prefer {{convert|36|cm|in|abbr=on}} fish.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Allyson |display-authors=etal |title=Mercury risk to avian piscivores across western United States and Canada |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=568 |year=2016 |pages=685–696 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.197 |pmid=26996522 |pmc=5461577 |bibcode=2016ScTEn.568..685J}}</ref> When experimenters offered fish of different sizes in the breeding season around [[Lake Britton]] in California, fish measuring {{convert|34|to|38|cm|in|abbr=on}} were taken 71.8% of the time by parent eagles while fish measuring {{convert|23|to|27.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} were chosen only 25% of the time.<ref name="Jenkins"/> At nests around [[Lake Superior]], the remains of fish (mostly [[Catostomus|suckers]]) were found to average {{convert|35.4|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length.<ref name="Kozie"/> In the Columbia River estuary, most preyed on by eagles were estimated to measure less than {{convert|30|cm|in|abbr=on}}, but larger fish between {{convert|30|and|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} or even exceeding {{convert|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length also taken especially during the non-breeding seasons.<ref name="Watson2"/> They can take fish up to at least twice their own weight, such as large mature [[salmon]]s, [[carp]]s, or even [[muskellunge]] (''Esox masquinongy''), by dragging its catch with talons and pull toward ashore.<ref name= Palmer/><ref name="Stalmaster"/><ref>{{cite web |title=St. Croix surprise: Bald eagle reels in large muskie |url=https://www.twincities.com/2019/08/15/st-croix-surprise-bald-eagle-reels-in-large-muskie/ |publisher=Pioneer Press |date=August 16, 2019 |access-date=August 9, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bald Eagle Catching Salmon 8598 |url=http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Wildlife/Studies/Raptors/Eagles/Brackendale/brackendale.html |publisher=The Brackendale and Yellowstone page |access-date=February 10, 2023}}</ref> Much larger marine fish such as [[Pacific halibut]] (''Hippoglossus stenolepis'') and [[lemon shark]]s (''Negaprion brevirostris'') have been recorded among bald eagle prey though probably are only taken as young, as small, newly mature fish, or as carrion.<ref name= Collins/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ofelt |first1=C. H. |year=1975 |title=Food habits of nesting Bald Eagles in southeast Alaska |journal=The Condor |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=337–338 |doi=10.2307/1366232 |jstor=1366232}}</ref>

[[Benthic zone|Benthic fishes]] such as catfish are usually consumed after they die and float to the surface, though while temporarily swimming in the open may be more vulnerable to predation than most fish since their eyes focus downwards.<ref name="Mersmann"/> Bald eagles also regularly exploit water turbines which produce battered, stunned or dead fish easily consumed.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Delong |first=D. C. Jr. |year=1990 |title=Effects of food on Bald Eagle distribution and abundance on the northern Chesapeake Bay: an experimental approach |type=MS thesis |publisher=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |url=https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/41925 |hdl=10919/41925}}</ref> Predators who leave behind scraps of dead fish that they kill, such as [[brown bear]]s (''Ursus arctos''), [[Gray wolf|gray wolves]] (''Canis lupus'') and [[red fox]]es (''Vulpes vulpes''), may be habitually followed in order to scavenge the kills secondarily.<ref name="Armstrong"/> Once North Pacific salmon die off after spawning, usually local bald eagles eat salmon carcasses almost exclusively. Eagles in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] need to consume {{convert|489|g|lb|abbr=on}} of fish each day for survival, with adults generally consuming more than juveniles and thus reducing potential energy deficiency and increasing survival during winter.<ref name=Stalmaster1/>