Photo: Bald Eagle, Cynthia Hansen/Audubon Photography Awards
On December 24 President Joe Biden signed S. 4610, making it official that the Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United States. Many did not know that it was not already our national bird, because it is a pervasive symbol throughout our government, as the bill’s findings make clear.
Since 1782 it has been the Coat of Arms for the United States Great Seal; it’s the leading insignia for all branches of the military; its image is on thousands of government branches, department and agencies; it’s integral to the spiritual lives and sacred belief systems of most Indigenous peoples and Tribal communities; and it’s on hundreds of stamps and many coins and currencies.
For those of us working actively to conserve threatened bird species, it’s also a symbol of how focused efforts can return an endangered bird from near extinction.