As we continue our Bird Bonanza, it’s time to meet the majestic birds today. When you encounter any of these raptors, it is one word that comes to mind. Other are beautiful, awe-inspiring, regal, and enormous! If you are ever lucky enough to be close to any of these beauties, you will be amazed by their size. 

Another trait that I often witness in raptors is their incredible eyes. Necessary for accuracy in hunting prey, they can look straight through your soul. The shape, color, and intensity mean they are all excellent hunters in the daytime or at night. 

So here are some amazing facts about each of these remarkable birds.

The Bald Eagle

• Rather than do their own fishing, Bald Eagles often go after other creatures’ catches. A Bald Eagle will harass a hunting Osprey until the smaller raptor drops its prey in midair, where the eagle swoops it up. A Bald Eagle may even snatch a fish directly out of an Osprey’s talons. Fishing mammals (even people sometimes) can also lose prey to Bald Eagle piracy.
• It’s Official – Known as a symbol of majesty and freedom in the United States for over 240 years, the Bald Eagle became the national bird of America in 2024! On December 24th, President Joe Biden signed legislation that made it official. 
• The largest Bald Eagle nest on record, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 2.9 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall. Another famous nest—in Vermilion, Ohio—was shaped like a wine glass and weighed almost two metric tons. It was used for 34 years until the tree blew down.
• Bald Eagles can live a long time. The oldest recorded bird in the wild was at least 38 years old when it was hit and killed by a car in New York in 2015. It had been banded in the same state in 1977.

The Osprey

• Often referred to as a “fish eagle” these gorgeous birds are generally smaller than the bald eagle but no less impressive. They are actually members of the hawk family and not the eagle!
• Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. These large, rangy hawks do well around humans and have rebounded in numbers following the ban on the pesticide DDT. Hunting Ospreys are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons.
• Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
• The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
• The oldest known Osprey was at least 25 years, 2 months old, and lived in Virginia. It was banded in 1973, and found in 1998.

The Red Shoulder Hawk

• These beautiful birds have a very distinct whistle. Their sound is often used in films showing bald eagles because it sounds more regal.
• Although the American Crow often mobs the Red-shouldered Hawk, sometimes the relationship is not so one-sided. They may chase each other and try to steal food from each other. They may also both attack a Great Horned Owl and join forces to chase the owl out of the hawk’s territory.
• Red-shouldered Hawks return to the same nesting territory year after year, demonstrating behavior typical of many raptors. One Red-shouldered Hawk occupied a territory in southern California for 16 consecutive years.
• The oldest-known Red-shouldered hawk was a female, and at least 25 years, 10 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 2000. She had been banded in the same state in 1974.

The Barred Owl

• Barred Owls are easiest to find when they are active at night—they’re a lot easier to hear than to see. Visit forests near water (big bottomland forest along a river is prime Barred Owl habitat) and listen carefully, paying attention for the species’ barking “Who cooks for you?” call. At great distance, this can sound like a large dog. Try imitating the call with your own voice and then wait quietly. If you’re lucky, a territorial Barred Owl will fly in to investigate you. During the daytime, a quiet walk through mature forest might reveal a roosting Barred Owl if you are lucky.
• Pleistocene fossils of Barred Owls, at least 11,000 years old, have been dug up in Florida, Tennessee, and Ontario.
• Barred Owls don’t migrate, and they don’t even move around very much. Of 158 birds that were banded and then found later, none had moved farther than 6 miles away.

• The oldest recorded Barred Owl was at least 26 years, 7 months old. It was banded in North Carolina in 1993, and caught due to injury in 2019.

All of the above facts, starting with the second through (with the exception of the Barred Owl) the last for each bird is from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They are one of the leading authorities worldwide on the subject of birds.