This is the bald eagle at the Utica Zoo in its summer cage. Its winter cage is smaller and has two heat lamps in it.

The bald eagle is a bird of prey. It eats ducks, gulls, sea birds, salmon and other fish. Occasionally, it will eat osprey eggs, too.

Eagles challenge osprey forcing them to leave their homes and then the eagles eat the ospreys' eggs. Sometimes, the eagle will take food from other birds. An eagle's nest is made of large sticks and twigs situated in a tall tree close to water. The bald eagle lives in the United States and southern Canada, but it lives mostly in Alaska. It migrates to the southern part of the United States and Mexico. It is also the national bird of the United States.

Some of the characteristics of this bird are strong grasping feet, a large wingspan of 6 feet, a white tail and rump, and also, a pure white head and neck. The bald eagle is not really bald. It gets the name from its pure white head. The females are usually larger than the males. When the bald eagles are younger, they are solid brown. The eagle breeds in much of North America. The eggs of an eagle are 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. Females lay one to three eggs a year.

While we were observing the bald eagle for five minutes, the two eagles that were in the cage watched us and stayed close to the heat lamps. One of them flew to another branch; the other one walked on the ground and then just stood there.

The bald eagle's habitat can be near sandy or rocky shores, freshwater marshes, swamps, lakes, and rivers. The bald eagle's niche is to catch fish, reproduce, feed its young, and eat. Eagles are daytime eaters. They fly around in the sky like an acrobatic show. During the night they are in their areas or on a safe perch.

One of the adaptations the eagle has is its sharp eyesight for seeing prey in water or in weeds. Eagles are able to see a tiny mouse when they are a long way up in the sky. They have sharp talons for grabbing fish or other birds, a strong beak for tearing apart tough meat and fish, and fast flying abilities for catching fast prey.