26 Ten EY AU Di USB O NB UL ee 
THE BALD EAGLE IN ILLINOIS 
By Terrence N. Ingram 
Our National Emblem, the Bald Eagle, has been a topic of discussion and 
debate for 184 years, even before he was established as the National 
Emblem. He has been called wary, strong, magnificent, beautiful and 
proud as well as a killer, an eater of carrion, a coward, and a robber of 
weaker birds. He is all of these, and more. These adjectives, previously 
used to describe the Bald Eagle, have always been appropriate. 
It is because these adjectives are appropriate that some men have ob- 
jected to the eagle as our National Emblem. Benjamin Franklin was one 
of these men at the time that our National Emblem was chosen. He has 
been quoted as saying: 
“For my part, I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as repre- 
sentative of the country; he is a bird of low moral character; he does 
not get his living honestly; he is generally poor and often very lousy. 
Besides, he is known as a rank coward.” 
Anyone who has had the opportunity to work with and know the 
Bald Eagle realizes Mr. Franklin was unduly critical. In spite of Mr. Frank- 
lin’s opposition, the Bald Eagle was chosen as the symbol of the United 
States in 1782. One of the main reasons behind this choice was the fact 
that it was a native American. The Bald Eagle is still found only in the 
United States, Canada, and a small portion of Asia near Alaska. 
Our National Emblem survived for 158 years before it was granted 
federal protection. In 1940 Congress gave him legal protection. However, 
this has not stopped the senseless slaughter of this bird by hunters and the 
gradual decline in eagle population. The U. S. Forest Service Report of 
Bald Eagle nests for 1965 indicates that possibly as many as one-half of 
the Bald Eagles that die each year die from hunters’ guns. If this sense- 
less slaughter could be stopped, the Bald Eagle might be able to survive 
insecticides, the encroachment of their nesting sites by man, and other 
possible causes for the decline in their population. 
The maximum fine for shooting a Bald Eagle is five hundred dollars 
and six months in jail. Yet how many cases go to court each year? How 
many convictions have actually been consummated since 1940? Very, very 
few. This is due to basically two reasons. One is that eagles are usually 
shot in the wilderness areas where no one is present to make the arrest. 
The other is that many persons have the attitude of “Why make such a 
fuss over one bird? There are plenty of others.” In the near future there 
may not be. 
Each year the nesting success of known Bald-Eagle pairs is lower than 
the year before. In many cases one or two of the parents are still present, 
but the eggs either have not hatched, or the young died soon after hatching. 
The most likely cause of nesting failure is believed to be pesticides. How- 
ever, no definite proof has been discovered. 
