Bald eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Overview
The bald eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle, which occupies the same niche as the bald eagle in the Palearctic. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.
From the Wikipedia article “Bald eagle”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Size and lifespan
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Birth weight | 117 g |
| Adult weight (male) | 4.13 kg |
| Adult weight (female) | 5.35 kg |
Source: Wikidata, citing “AVIAN BODY SIZES IN RELATION TO FECUNDITY, MATING SYSTEM, DISPLAY BEHAVIOR, AND RESOURCE SHARING”, article by Terje Lislevand et al published June 2007 in Ecology.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Middle America; North America.
Common names
Names in other languages (14)
- Arabic
- عقاب رخماء
- Bengali
- বল্ড ঈগল
- Chinese
- 白头海雕, 白頭海鵰
- French
- Pygargue à tête blanche
- German
- Weißkopf-Seeadler, Weißkopfseeadler
- Hindi
- bald eagle
- Indonesian
- elang botak
- Japanese
- ハクトウワシ
- Persian
- عقاب سر سفید, عقاب سرسفید, عقاب گر
- Portuguese
- Águia de cabeça branca, águia-de-cabeça-branca, pigargo-americano
- Russian
- Белоголовый орлан
- Spanish
- Águila cabeza blanca, Águila calva, Pigargo americano
- Turkish
- Kel kartal
- Urdu
- گنجا عقاب
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, measurements, names in other languages. Q127216, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Bald eagle”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026