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Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus - NatureWorks

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The bald eagle is 30-31 inches in length with a wingspan of 6-7 feet. It has a dark brown body, a white tail and a white head and shoulders. It has bright yellow eyes, a large hooked yellow bill, and powerful yellow legs and talons.

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Bald Eagle Facts | Life Cycle of Bald Eagles

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Q. Do bald eagles have only one mate for life? A. Typically, yes, although occasionally an intruding adult (not one of the pair) comes in (usually a female) and battles the resident bird for the territory, sometimes then taking over.

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Prairie dogs (genus Cynomys) are herbivorous burrowing mammals native to the grasslands of North America. The five species are: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, prairie dogs are found primarily in the northern states, which lie at the southern end of the Great Plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas. In the United States, they range primarily to the west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales. They are also found in the Canadian Prairies. Despite the name, they are not actually canines but a type of ground squirrel.

Prairie dogs are considered a keystone species with their mounds often being used by other species. Their mound-building encourages grass development and renewal of topsoil, with rich mineral, and nutrient renewal in the soil which can be crucial for soil quality and agriculture. They are extremely important in the food chain, being important to the diet of many animals such as the black-footed ferret, swift fox, golden eagle, red tailed hawk, American badger, and coyote. Other species, such as the golden-mantled ground squirrel, mountain plover, and the burrowing owl, also rely on prairie dog burrows for nesting areas. Grazing species, such as plains bison, pronghorn, and mule deer have shown a proclivity for grazing on the same land used by prairie dogs. Prairie dogs have some of the most complex systems of communication and social structures in the animal kingdom.

The prairie dog habitat has been affected by direct removal by farmers, as well as the more obvious encroachment of urban development, which has greatly reduced their populations. The removal of prairie dogs "causes undesirable spread of brush", the costs of which to livestock range and soil quality often outweighs the benefits of removal. Other threats include disease. The prairie dog is protected in many areas to maintain local populations and ensure natural ecosystems and that they are not harmed.

Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark. The name was in use at least as early as 1774. The 1804 journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition note that in September 1804, they "discovered a Village of an animal the French Call the Prairie Dog". Its genus, Cynomys, derives from the Greek for "dog mouse" (κυων kuōn, κυνος kunos - dog; μυς mus, μυός muos - mouse).

The black-tailed prairie dog ( Cynomys ludovicianus) was first described by Lewis and Clark in 1804. Lewis described it in more detail in 1806, calling it the "barking squirrel".

On average, these stout-bodied rodents will grow to be between 30 and 40 cm (12 and 16 in) long, including the short tail, and weigh between 0.5 and 1.5 kilograms (1 and 3 lb). Sexual dimorphism in body mass in the prairie dog varies 105 to 136% between the sexes. Among the species, black-tailed prairie dogs tend to be the least sexually dimorphic, and white-tailed prairie dogs tend to be the most sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism peaks during weaning, when the females lose weight and the males start eating more, and is at its lowest when the females are pregnant, which is also when the males are tired from breeding.

Prairie dogs are chiefly herbivorous, though they eat some insects. They feed primarily on grasses and small seeds. In the fall, they eat broadleaf forbs. In the winter, lactating and pregnant females supplement their diets with snow for extra water. They also will eat roots, seeds, fruit, buds, and grasses of various species. Black-tailed prairie dogs in South Dakota eat western bluegrass, blue grama, buffalo grass, six weeks fescue, and tumblegrass, while Gunnison's prairie dogs eat rabbit brush, tumbleweeds, dandelions, saltbush, and cacti in addition to buffalo grass and blue grama. White-tailed prairie dogs have been observed to kill ground squirrels, a competing herbivore.

Prairie dogs live mainly at altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 ft above sea level. The areas where they live can get as warm as 38 °C (100 °F) in the summer and as cold as −37 °C (−35 °F) in the winter. As prairie dogs live in areas prone to environmental threats, including hailstorms, blizzards, and floods, as well as drought and prairie fires, burrows provide important protection. Burrows help prairie dogs control their body temperature ( Thermoregulation) as they are 5-10 °C (41-50 °F) during the winter and 15-25 °C (59-77 °F) in the summer. Prairie dog tunnel systems channel rainwater into the water table which prevents runoff and erosion, and can also change the composition of the soil in a region by reversing soil compaction that can result from cattle grazing.

Prairie dog burrows are 5-10 m (16-33 ft) long and 2-3 m (6.6-9.8 ft) below the ground. The entrance holes are generally 10-30 cm (3.9-11.8 in) in diameter. Prairie dog burrows can have up to six entrances. Sometimes the entrances are simply flat holes in the ground, while at other times they are surrounded by mounds of soil either left as piles or hard packed. Some mounds, known as dome craters, can be as high as 20-30 cm (7.9-11.8 in) high. Other mounds, known as rim craters, can be as high as 1 m (3 ft 3 in). Dome craters and rim craters serve as observation posts used by the animals to watch for predators. They also protect the burrows from flooding. The holes also possibly provide ventilation as the air enters through the dome crater and leaves through the rim crater, causing a breeze though the burrow. Prairie dog burrows contain chambers to provide certain functions. They have nursery chambers for their young, chambers for night, and chambers for the winter. They also contain air chambers that may function to protect the burrow from flooding and a listening post for predators. When hiding from predators, prairie dogs use less-deep chambers that are usually one meter (3 ft 3 in) below the surface. Nursery chambers tend to be deeper, being two to three meters (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) below the surface.

Highly social, prairie dogs live in large colonies or "towns" and collections of prairie dog families that can span hundreds of acres. The prairie dog family groups are the most basic units of its society. Members of a family group inhabit the same territory. Family groups of black-tailed and Mexican prairie dogs are called "coteries", while "clans" are used to describe family groups of white-tailed, Gunnison's, and Utah prairie dogs. Although these two family groups are similar, coteries tend to be more closely knit than clans. Members of a family group interact through oral contact or "kissing" and grooming one another. They do not perform these behaviors with prairie dogs from other family groups.

A prairie dog town may contain 15-26 family groups. There may also be subgroups within a town, called "wards", which are separated by a physical barrier. Family groups exist within these wards. Most prairie dog family groups are made up of one adult breeding male, two to three adult females and one to two male offspring and one to two female offspring. Females remain in their natal groups for life and are thus the source of stability in the groups. Males leave their natal groups when they mature to find another family group to defend and breed in. Some family groups contain more breeding females than one male can control, so have more than one breeding adult male in them. Among these multiple-male groups, some may contain males that have friendly relationships, but the majority contain males that have largely antagonistic relationships. In the former, the males tend to be related, while in the latter, they tend not to be related. Two to three groups of females may be controlled by one male. However, among these female groups, there are no friendly relations.

The average prairie dog territory takes up 0.05-1.01 hectares (0.12-2.50 acres). Territories have well-established borders that coincide with physical barriers such as rocks and trees. The resident male of a territory defends it and antagonistic behavior will occur between two males of different families to defend their territories. These interactions may happen 20 times per day and last five minutes. When two prairie dogs encounter each other at the edges of their territories, they will start staring, make bluff charges, flare their tails, chatter their teeth, and sniff each other's perianal scent glands. When fighting, prairie dogs will bite, kick and ram each other. If their competitor is around their size or smaller, the females will participate in fighting. Otherwise, if a competitor is sighted, the females signal for the resident male.

Prairie dog copulation occurs in the burrows, and this reduces the risk of interruption by a competing male. They are also at less risk of predation. Behaviors that signal that a female is in estrus include underground consorting, self-licking of genitals, dust-bathing, and late entrances into the burrow at night. The licking of genitals may protect against sexually transmitted diseases and genital infections, while dust-bathing may protect against fleas and other parasites. Prairie dogs also have a mating call which consists of a set of 2 to 25 barks with a 3- to 15-second pause between each one. Females may try to increase their reproduction success by mating with males outside their family groups. When copulation is over, the male is no longer interested in the female sexually, but will prevent other males from mating with her by inserting copulatory plugs.

For black-tailed prairie dogs, the resident male of the family group fathers all the offspring. Multiple paternity in litters seems to be more common in Utah and Gunnison's prairie dogs. Mother prairie dogs do most of the care for the young. In addition to nursing the young, the mother also defends the nursery chamber and collects grass for the nest. Males play their part by defending the territories and maintaining the burrows. The young spend their first six weeks below the ground being nursed. They are then weaned and begin to surface from the burrow. By five months, they are fully grown. The subject of cooperative breeding in prairie dogs has been debated among biologists. Some argue prairie dogs will defend and feed young that are not theirs, and it seems young will sleep in a nursery chamber with other mothers; since most nursing occurs at night, this may be a case of communal nursing. In the case of the latter, others suggest communal nursing occurs only when mothers mistake another female's young for their own. Infanticide is known to occur in prairie dogs. Males which take over a family group will kill the offspring of the previous male. This causes the mother to go into estrus sooner. However, most infanticide is done by close relatives. Lactating females will kill the offspring of a related female both to decrease competition for the female's offspring and for increased foraging area due to a decrease in territorial defense by the victimized mother. Supporters of the theory that prairie dogs are communal breeders state that another reason for this type of infanticide is so that the female can get a possible helper. With their own offspring gone, the victimized mother may help raise the young of other females.

The prairie dog is well adapted to predators. Using its dichromatic color vision, it can detect predators from a great distance; it then alerts other prairie dogs of the danger with a special, high-pitched call. Constantine Slobodchikoff and others assert that prairie dogs use a sophisticated system of vocal communication to describe specific predators. According to them, prairie dog calls contain specific information as to what the predator is, how big it is and how fast it is approaching. These have been described as a form of grammar. According to Slobodchikoff, these calls, with their individuality in response to a specific predator, imply that prairie dogs have highly developed cognitive abilities. He also writes that prairie dogs have calls for things that are not predators to them. This is cited as evidence that the animals have a very descriptive language and have calls for any potential threat.

Alarm response behavior varies according to the type of predator announced. If the alarm indicates a hawk diving toward the colony, all the prairie dogs in its flight path dive into their holes, while those outside the flight path stand and watch. If the alarm is for a human, all members of the colony immediately rush inside the burrows. For coyotes, the prairie dogs move to the entrance of a burrow and stand outside the entrance, observing the coyote, while those prairie dogs that were inside the burrows will come out to stand and watch as well. For domestic dogs, the response is to observe, standing in place where they were when the alarm was sounded, again with the underground prairie dogs emerging to watch.

There is debate over whether the alarm calling of prairie dogs is selfish or altruistic. It is possible that prairie dogs alert others to the presence of a predator so they can protect themselves. However, it is also possible that the calls are meant to cause confusion and panic in the groups and cause the others to be more conspicuous to the predator than the caller. Studies of black-tailed prairie dogs suggest that alarm-calling is a form of kin selection, as a prairie dog's call alerts both offspring and nondescended kin, such as cousins, nephews and nieces. Prairie dogs with kin close by called more often than those that did not have kin nearby. In addition, the caller may be trying to make itself more noticeable to the predator. Predators, though, seem to have difficulty determining which prairie dog is making the call due to its " ventriloquistic" nature.

Perhaps the most striking of prairie dog communications is the territorial call or "jump-yip" display of the black-tailed prairie dog. A black-tailed prairie dog will stretch the length of its body vertically and throw its forefeet into the air while making a call. A jump-yip from one prairie dog causes others nearby to do the same.

Ecologists consider this rodent to be a keystone species. They are an important prey species, being the primary diet in prairie species such as the black-footed ferret, swift fox, golden eagle, red tailed hawk, American badger, coyote and ferruginous hawk. Other species, such as the golden-mantled ground squirrel, mountain plover, and the burrowing owl, also rely on prairie dog burrows for nesting areas. Even grazing species, such as plains bison, pronghorn, and mule deer have shown a proclivity for grazing on the same land used by prairie dogs.

Nevertheless, prairie dogs are often identified as pests and exterminated from agricultural properties because they are capable of damaging crops, as they clear the immediate area around their burrows of most vegetation.

As a result, prairie dog habitat has been affected by direct removal by farmers, as well as the more obvious encroachment of urban development, which has greatly reduced their populations. The removal of prairie dogs "causes undesirable spread of brush", the costs of which to livestock range may outweigh the benefits of removal. Black-tailed prairie dogs comprise the largest remaining community. In spite of human encroachment, prairie dogs have adapted, continuing to dig burrows in open areas of western cities.

One common concern which led to the widespread extermination of prairie dog colonies was that their digging activities could injure horses by fracturing their limbs. However, according to writer Fred Durso, Jr., of E Magazine, "after years of asking ranchers this question, we have found not one example." Another concern is their susceptibility to bubonic plague. As of July 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to distribute an oral vaccine it had developed by unmanned aircraft or drones.

Until 2003, primarily black-tailed prairie dogs were collected from the wild for the exotic pet trade in Canada, the United States, Japan, and Europe. They were removed from their burrows each spring, as young pups, with a large vacuum device. They can be difficult to breed in captivity, but breed well in zoos. Removing them from the wild was a far more common method of supplying the market demand.

They can be difficult pets to care for, requiring regular attention and a very specific diet of grasses and hay. Each year, they go into a period called rut that can last for several months, in which their personalities can drastically change, often becoming defensive or even aggressive. Despite their needs, prairie dogs are very social animals and come to seem as though they treat humans as members of their colony.

In mid-2003, due to cross-contamination at a Madison, Wisconsin-area pet swap from an unquarantined Gambian pouched rat imported from Ghana, several prairie dogs in captivity acquired monkeypox, and subsequently a few humans were also infected. This led the CDC and FDA to issue a joint order banning the sale, trade, and transport within the United States of prairie dogs (with a few exceptions). The disease was never introduced to any wild populations. The European Union also banned importation of prairie dogs in response.

All Cynomys species are classed as a "prohibited new organism" under New Zealand's Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing it from being imported into the country.

Prairie dogs are also very susceptible to bubonic plague, and many wild colonies have been wiped out by it. Also, in 2002, a large group of prairie dogs in captivity in Texas were found to have contracted tularemia. The prairie dog ban is frequently cited by the CDC as a successful response to the threat of zoonosis.

Prairie dogs that were in captivity at the time of the ban in 2003 were allowed to be kept under a grandfather clause, but were not to be bought, traded, or sold, and transport was permitted only to and from a veterinarian under quarantine procedures.

On 8 September 2008, the FDA and CDC rescinded the ban, making it once again legal to capture, sell, and transport prairie dogs. Although the federal ban has been lifted, several states still have in place their own ban on prairie dogs.

The European Union has not lifted its ban on imports from the U.S. of animals captured in the wild. Major European Prairie Dog Associations, such as the Italian Associazione Italiana Cani della Prateria (AICDP), remain against import from the United States, due to the high death rate of wild captures. Several zoos in Europe have stable prairie dog colonies that generate enough surplus pups to saturate the EU internal demand, and several associations help owners to give adoption to captive-born animals.

Prairie dogs in captivity may live up to ten years.

From George Wilkins Kendall's account of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition: "In their habits, they are clannish, social, and extremely convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over each other's affairs-at least so their actions would indicate. On several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of his neighbors it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor, or chief-at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community. During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles. All this while he never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a gravity in his deportment not discernible in those by which he was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of the village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the prairie dog."

From Josiah Gregg's journal, Commerce of the Prairies: "Of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious, and by no means the least celebrated, is the little prairie dog. ...The flesh, though often eaten by travelers, is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the 'barking squirrel', the 'prairie ground-squirrel', etc., by early explorers, with much more apparent propriety than the present established name. Its yelp, which resembles that of the little toy-dog, seems its only canine attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground betwixt the rabbit and squirrel-like the former in feeding and burrowing-like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, and somewhat so in its barking. The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists a species of the marmot (arctomys ludoviciana); yet it seems to possess scarce any other quality in common with this animal except that of burrowing. ...I have the concurrent testimony of several persons, who have been upon the Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they issue from their holes every soft day; and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of 'hay' (as there is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of their towns) for winter's use. A collection of their burrows has been termed by travelers a 'dog town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to some thousands in the same vicinity; often covering an area of several square miles. They generally locate upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass, upon which they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous. But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly to destroy this within their 'streets,' which are nearly always found 'paved' with a fine species suited to their palates. They must need but little water, if any at all, as their 'towns' are often, indeed generally, found in the midst of the most arid plains-unless we suppose they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to dig or drown them out of their holes have generally proved unsuccessful. Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed frisking about the 'streets'-passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on visits-sometimes a few clustered together as though in council-here feeding upon the tender herbage-there cleansing their 'houses,' or brushing the little hillock about the door-yet all quiet. Upon seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to its home, but is apt to stop at the entrance, and spread the general alarm by a succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect. Yet at the report of a gun or the too near approach of the visitor, they dart down and are seen no more till the cause of alarm seems to have disappeared.

In companies that use large numbers of cubicles in a common space, employees sometimes use the term "prairie dogging" to refer to the action of several people simultaneously looking over the walls of their cubicles in response to a noise or other distraction. This action is thought to resemble the startled response of a group of prairie dogs.

The Amarillo Sod Poodles, a minor league baseball team, use a nickname for prairie dogs as their cognomen.

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Prairie dogs (genus Cynomys ) are herbivorous burrowing mammals native to the grasslands of North America. The five species are: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, prairie dogs are found primarily in the northern states, which lie at the southern end of the Great Plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas.

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Wildlife Guide | National Wildlife Federation

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Learn about our nation's wildlife, the threats they face, and the conservation efforts that can help.

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Watch in HD! We placed a GoPro camera on a Prairie Dog's mound - they're so curious! :)

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Prairie Dogs Are Eating Carrots- Carrots Party

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http://www.videobash.com 0:27 "hundreds of carrots in front of me,...mh let's try this one...naw doesn't﻿ taste right. Oh yes, let's take his, I want his and only his. From the moment I got here I wanted only this piece of carrot!!!"

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Prairie Dog Emergency Alert System | America's National Parks

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Bighorn sheep inhabit grassy mountains, alpine meadows and foothill country near rocky cliffs that allow quick escape. The natural range of Bighorn sheep is the Rocky Mountains from Southern Canada to Colorado. The Bighorn's body is compact and muscular; the muzzle, narrow and pointed; the ears, short and pointed; the tail, very short.

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wolves; wolf; wilderness; rocky mountains; jasper park; canada; canadian rockies; photos; pictures;

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https://mygrizzlyheart.com/ This is a video of a grey wolf in Jasper Park Alberta Canada. Jasper Park is home to several wolf packs that thrive in the Canadian Rockies. There are many opportunities to take photos of the natural wildlife in Jasper Park in the Rocky Mountains. This was taken near Athabasca Falls.

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This is "Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep" by Colorado Parks & Wildlife on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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Bighorn Rams Collide Head-On - North America | Discovery

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An old bighorn sheep and a young contender collide head-on in a fight for mating rights. Their thick, shock-absorbing skulls can withstand 800 pounds of force.

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Prairie dog: Prairie dog, (genus Cynomys), any of five species of burrowing, colony-forming squirrels that inhabit plains, high plateaus, and montane valleys in North America. Their short, coarse fur is grizzled yellowish buff to reddish or rich cinnamon. Prairie dogs have a short tail, small rounded ears, and

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For many years, starting in the 1920s, the San Diego Zoo had its own Prairie Dog Town exhibit. It was a large pit with a concrete bottom and walls, filled with dirt for the "dogs" to create their many burrows.

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By Matt Kroschel

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Cellphone video captured a bighorn sheep smashing out a window at a famous hotel.

It happened at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, when a bighorn appears to catch a glimpse of and take offense to its own reflection, shattering the window.

The video, shot by Christian Addie, shows a few bighorns standing outside the hotel before the incident.

"Saw him kind of eyeing his reflection, guarding his ewes because they are rutting right now," said Addie.

Most seem quite content to see the sights, maybe do a little shopping, until the one ram spots himself in the window and smashes it out with one go.

"I kind of see him bumping up against the glass a little bit, we were thinking they're going to break it," said Addie.

RELATED: Ram Makes Sheepish Exit After Breaking Into Home

At that, all of the bighorns scatter, all appearing unhurt in the glass attack.

The window, though, is a total loss.

Bighorn sheep live across Colorado but typically stay in the bluffs overlooking Glenwood Springs. It's unusual for the animals to come into a populated area of town.

"He looked like he was alright when he took off running, so... maybe just a bruised ego," said Addie.

Addie was surprised by all the attention his video is receiving, "It went viral and I wasn't expecting that. It started with just a few folks at work wanting to see it and my co-workers were like, 'Send it to me, send it to me.'"
Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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Watch: Bighorn Smashes Out Famous Hotel Window

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By Matt Kroschel GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Cellphone video captured a bighorn sheep smashing out a window at a famous hotel. It happened at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, when a bighorn appears to catch a glimpse of and take offense to its own reflection, shattering the window.

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MOUNT BERRY, GA ( CBS4) - A new eagle cam with two eaglets visible is getting thousands of views.

It's coming from Berry College in Georgia, which is northwest of Atlanta.

The college has set up a webpage with several camera views, a live chat, and all kinds of eagle fun facts and FAQs.

Berry College is a private liberal arts college with a Christian emphasis.

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MOUNT BERRY, GA ( CBS4) - A new eagle cam with two eaglets visible is getting thousands of views. It's coming from Berry College in Georgia, which is northwest of Atlanta. The college has set up a webpage with several camera views, a live chat, and all kinds of eagle fun facts and FAQs.

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Bighorn Sheep Facts for Kids - NatureMapping

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NatureMapping is a hands-on environmental science and education program linking kids, communities and professionals.

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BBC Nature - American bison videos, news and facts

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American bison are the largest land mammals in North America.

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Animals for Kids: American Bison or Buffalo

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Kids learn about the American Bison, giant buffalo that ran in huge herds until nearly hunted to extinction.

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Clearly recognized by its white head, brown body, and hooked yellow beak, the bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States of America since 1782.

Yet starting in the 1950s, this symbol of American patriotism began to dramatically decline in numbers due to the use of the chemical DDT. After rigorous conservation efforts by the United States government, the bald eagle successfully rejuvenated its population and can comfortably continue its role as the national bird of the US.

With a 2 m (7 ft.) wing span, a weight of 3-7 kg (7-15 lb.), and an overall size of 71-96 cm (28-38 in.), the bald eagle is one of the largest raptors in the world.

Living near a constant source of water, bald eagles feast on fish, ducks, snakes and turtles. They will also eat rabbits, muskrats, and dead animals. Utilizing their acute sense of sight and powerful talons, bald eagles attack their prey by swooping down on them at an angle. They can reach speeds of up to 160 km/hr (100 mph) when diving. Once they capture their prey, they use their hooked beak to pull flesh out before eating it.

Bald eagles can reach great heights when flying. Using thermal convention currents, they can climb to up to 3000 m (10,000 ft.) in the air. They can soar for hours using these currents. When cruising, they can fly about 65 km/hr (40 mph). In addition, if their water source freezes, bald eagles may use thermal convention currents to migrate in the winter.

At around 4-5 years old, bald eagles will choose a mating partner through a courtship procedure. The courtship includes numerous calls and aerial displays. Once coupled, the two birds will mate for life. Only in the case where one eagle dies or disappears will the other one find a new mate.

Preferring to make their homes in large trees near bodies of water (both fresh and salt), bald eagles build enormous nests, called eyries, out of sticks. Generally, their eyries are at least half a meter (2 ft.) deep and 1.5 m (5 ft.) across but can be bigger. These substantial nests have been known to weigh up to 900 kg (1 ton).

A mating pair produces up to three eggs a year, though it is not likely that all three will survive. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs. While one is incubating, the other searches for food or more nesting materials.

After a little over a month of incubation, the eggs hatch. Bald eagles are not born with their distinctive brown and white look. When baby eaglets hatch, their entire bodies are covered with light gray feathers. Around 3 weeks, their plumage takes on a brown coloration. Finally, at 4-5 years old, they acquire the distinctive brown and white color pattern.

Conservation Status

In 2007, the bald eagle was removed from endangered and threatened species list kept by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, IUCN's Red List currently considers the bald eagle as a species of least concern of extinction. Their successful recovery is due to years concerted conservation efforts along with the ban on the pesticide DDT in 1972.

While bald eagles have few natural enemies and are no longer considered endangered, threats still exist to the bald eagle, including habitat loss. As people move to the shores, they are cutting down trees and forcing eagles to make their homes elsewhere. Illegal hunting is another threat.

What You Can Do to Help

A good way to help bald eagles is to educate the public about the birds' habitat requirements. Encourage shore property owners to limit the clearing of trees near the water, and advocate for less development in eagle habitat. You can also donate to the American Eagle Foundation.

Bald Eagle Distribution

Bald Eagle Resources

Blog Posts about the Bald Eagle

About the Author

P.A. Smith is a middle school Language Arts teacher. He is also a contributing editor of My House Rabbit.

Last updated on August 24, 2014.

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Bald Eagle Facts for Kids | North American Birds

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Clearly recognized by its white head, brown body, and hooked yellow beak, the bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States of America since 1782. Yet starting in the 1950s, this symbol of American patriotism began to dramatically decline in numbers due to the use of the chemical DDT.

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Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. With extremely elongated fingers and a wing membrane stretched between, the bat's wing anatomically resembles the human hand. Almost 1,000 bat species can be found worldwide. In fact, bats make up a quarter of all mammal species on earth!

Diet

70% of bats consume insects, sharing a large part of natural pest control. There are also fruit-eating bats; nectar-eating bats; carnivorous bats that prey on small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs; fish-eating bats, and perhaps most famously, the blood-sucking vampire bats of South America.

Population

While some bat populations number in the millions, others are dangerously low or in decline.

Range
Did You Know?
A single little brown bat can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes in a single hour, and is one of the world's longest-lived mammals for its size, with life spans of almost 40 years.

Bats can be found almost anywhere in the world except the polar regions and extreme deserts.

Behavior

Echolocation
Some bats have evolved a highly sophisticated sense of hearing. They emit sounds that bounce off of objects in their path, sending echoes back to the bats. From these echoes, the bats can determine the size of objects, how far away they are, how fast they are traveling and even their texture, all in a split second

Bats find shelter in caves, crevices, tree cavities and buildings. Some species are solitary while others form colonies of more than a million individuals.
Did You Know?
Giant flying foxes that live in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly six feet!

Overwintering
To survive the winter some species of bat migrate, others hibernate, and yet others go into torpor (regulated hypothermia that can last from a few hours to a few months).

Reproduction

Gestation: 40 days - 6 months (bigger bats have longer gestation periods)
Litter Size: Mostly one pup
For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing mammals on Earth. At birth, a pup weighs up to 25 percent of its mother's body weight, which is like a human mother giving birth to a 31 pound baby! Offspring typically are cared for in maternity colonies, where females congregate to bear and raise the young. Male bats do not help to raise the pups

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Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. With extremely elongated fingers and a wing membrane stretched between, the bat's wing anatomically resembles the human hand. Almost 1,000 bat species can be found worldwide. In fact, bats make up a quarter of all mammal species on earth!

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Explore our wide variety of animal facts and learn some fun trivia about our friends in the animal kingdom.

Fun Bat Facts for Kids

Check out our range of fun bat facts for kids. Learn how they see in the dark, what vampire bats feed on and much more. Read on and enjoy a variety of interesting information about bats.

Bats are flying mammals.

While others can glide, bats are the only mammals capable of continued flight.

There are over 1000 different bat species.

Bats are nocturnal (active at night).

Bats 'see' in the dark using a special skill called echolocation. Bats make noises and wait for the sound waves to bounce back off objects (an echo), if it doesn't bounce back then they can safely fly forward. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back to them.

Most bats feed on insects, while others eat fruit, fish or even blood!

There are 3 species of vampire bats which feed solely on blood.

Vampire bats have small and extremely sharp teeth which are capable of piercing an animal's skin (humans included) without them even noticing.

Vampire bats can carry rabies, making their bites potentially dangerous.

Some bats live by themselves while others live in caves with thousands of other bats.

Bats can live for over 20 years.

Pteropus bats (also known as flying foxes or fruit bats) are the largest in the world.

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Fun Bat Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about Bats

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Explore our wide variety of animal facts and learn some fun trivia about our friends in the animal kingdom. Fun Bat Facts for Kids Check out our range of fun bat facts for kids. Learn how they see in the dark, what vampire bats feed on and much more.

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Simple Wiki- A great place to do research!

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Simple Wiki- A great place to do research!

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From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

About Wikipedia

When writing articles here:

Use Basic English words and shorter sentences. This allows people to understand complex terms or phrases.

Write good pages. The best encyclopedia pages have useful, well-written information.

Use the pages to learn and teach. These pages can help people learn English. You can also use them to make a new Wikipedia to help other people.

Simple does not mean short. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want basic information. Articles do not have to be short to be simple; expand articles, add details, but use basic vocabulary.

Be bold! Your article does not have to be perfect, because other editors will fix it and make it better. And most importantly, do not be afraid to start and make articles better yourself.

Selected article

Map of the storm on October 10

The 1910 Cuba hurricane was said to be one of the worst tropical cyclones that has ever hit Cuba. The storm formed in the southern Caribbean Sea on October 9, 1910. It grew stronger as it moved northwest. It then made landfall on the western end of Cuba. The storm made a loop over open water, and then began moving towards the United States. After crossing Florida, the storm moved near the rest of the southeastern United States and passed out to sea.

Because of the storm's loop, some reports said it was actually two hurricanes. In Cuba, the storm was one of the worst disasters in the island's history. There was bad damage and thousands of people lost their homes. In Florida, the storm also caused damage and caused flooding in some areas. It is not known exactly how much damage the storm caused. However, losses in Havana, Cuba were over $ 1 million. At least 100 people died in Cuba alone.

more...

Did you know...

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From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia When writing articles here: Use Basic English words and shorter sentences. This allows people to understand complex terms or phrases. Write good pages. The best encyclopedia pages have useful, well-written information. Use the pages to learn and teach. These pages can help people learn English.

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12 Interesting Facts about Wolves - Wolf Facts for Kids | Educational Videos by Mocomi

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Meet the Animals | Gray Wolf | Wild Animals | Stories for Kindergarten

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Visit the Rocky Mountains in the fall and you might hear some awesome crashing noises. These noises aren't rocks falling, but bighorn sheep fighting. Males have huge, curled horns that can weigh up to 30 pounds. During mating season, the males, or rams, run at each other and butt their heads together. These fights can last almost a whole day and night! The biggest ram usually wins and the smaller ram finally gives up.

Bighorn sheep live in steep, mountain areas where they can hide from predators. Wolves, coyotes and bobcats hunt them. Golden eagles sometimes hunt baby sheep. Bighorn sheep have rough hooves. They are experts at scrambling on rocks.

Fun Facts about Bighorn Sheep for Kids

Female bighorn sheep live in herds with their young. Adult females often live with their moms and sisters their whole lives. Males live in smaller groups. They join females only to breed.

Bighorn sheep are herbivores. During the summer, they stay in the mountains and much on soft green grass or clover. In the winter, they come down to the valleys to eat woody plants or shrubs.

Bighorn sheep have one or two babies. They keep their babies hidden on a cliff for up to a week. Babies learn quickly to climb and jump on rocks.

Females have horns too, but they're much smaller. Even babies have tiny horns.

Bighorn Sheep Vocabulary

Learn More All About Bighorn Sheep

Watch a video about bighorn sheep:

A video of a bighorn sheep ramming into a car.

Bighorn Sheep Q&A

Question: How big are bighorn sheep?

Answer: Males weigh between 125 and 300 pounds; females weigh between 75 and 200 pounds.

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Question: Where do bighorn sheep live?

Answer: In western mountain areas in North America. They live in Canada, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and California. Some bighorn sheep even live in Mexico.

Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about Bighorn Sheep info? Take the FREE & fun all about Bighorn Sheep quiz and download FREE Bighorn Sheep worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.

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Visit the Rocky Mountains in the fall and you might hear some awesome crashing noises. These noises aren't rocks falling, but bighorn sheep fighting. Males have huge, curled horns that can weigh up to 30 pounds. During mating season, the males, or rams, run at each other and butt their heads together.

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Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Bighorn sheep get their name from the large, curved horns on the males, or rams. They are legendary for their ability to climb high, steep, rocky mountain areas.

Diet

Bighorn sheep eat different foods depending on the season. During the summer, they subsist on grasses or sedges. During the winter they eat more woody plants, such as willow, sage and rabbit brush. Desert bighorn sheep eat brushy plants such as desert holly and desert cactus.

Population

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were between 1.5 million to two million bighorn sheep in North America. Today, there are less than 70,000.

Range

Bighorn sheep were once widespread throughout western North America. By the 1920's, bighorn sheep were eliminated from Washington, Oregon, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Mexico. Today, populations have been re-established through transplanting sheep from healthy populations into vacant places.

Behavior

Bighorn sheep live in herds or bands of about 5 to 15 ewes, lambs, yearlings, and two-year olds. Groups of males are much smaller, usually numbering two to five. In the winter, the ewe herds join to create bands of as many as 100 animals.

In the fall, the rams compete for ewes by having butting contests. They charge each other at speeds of more than 20 mph, their foreheads crashing with a crack that can be heard more than a mile away. These battles may last as long as 24 hours.

Reproduction
Mating Season: November and December.
Gestation: 5-6 months.
Offspring: 1 lamb.

Lambs are born with a soft, woolly, light-colored coats and small hornbuds. Within a day, a lamb can walk and climb as well as its mother. A lamb will stay with its mother for the first year of its life.

Threats

Hunting, loss of food from livestock grazing and disease from domestic livestock have devastated bighorn sheep populations. While livestock is not as much of a threat as in the past, loss of habitat from development is an increasing threat. Normally, predators like mountain lions, wolves, bobcats, coyotes and golden eagles do not pose a threat to bighorn sheep. However, in areas where sheep populations are low, the death of a sheep from a natural predator can be a risk to the larger population.

Nearly one-third of California's populations of desert bighorn sheep have died out in the past century. These losses have occurred primarily at lower elevations, where increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation have reduced the amount of vegetation available for foraging and the freshwater springs they depend on for water. More populations of desert bighorn sheep may be at risk as the southwestern climate continues to become hotter and dryer.

Reasons For Hope

The population of peninsular bighorns hit a low of about 280 animals in 1996. Since then, thanks in large part to their inclusion on the federal endangered species list, their numbers have increased to about 600-offering hope that this nimble mountain dweller won't fall off the precipice.

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Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs.

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Playing a major character in fairy tales and mythology throughout the ages, the gray wolf (or timber wolf) has been perceived in many different lights, from "Big, Bad Wolf" to spiritual being. In reality, gray wolves may not embody such extreme vices and virtues, but they do play a vital role in maintaining ecological harmony.

Although they are called gray wolves, these ancestors of domestic dogs actually range in color from brownish-gray, to all black, to all white.

Gray wolves are the largest of all canines. At 60-90 cm (2-3 ft.) at the shoulder and 1.5 m (4.5-6.5 ft.) in length, gray wolves vary in weight from 25-60 kg (55-130 lb.). They are also one of most widespread land mammals, inhabiting various ecosystems throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and a small portion of Africa. In general, gray wolves' size and weight increase the further north they reside.

Gray wolves are social animals, living and hunting in packs of 2-12. A typical pack is composed of an alpha male and an alpha female (the pack leaders), their pups, and several subordinate or juvenile wolves. The pack members exhibit close relationships and communicate with each other with a range of sounds including barks, whines, growls, and howls.

In general, only the dominant male and female breed to prevent the pack from becoming too large. The alpha couple will begin the bonding process early in the year and will mate in January or February. The alpha female then chooses a den site and gives birth to a litter of about six pups, who will reach maturity at 2-3 years old.

If a subordinate wolf feels a strong inclination to breed, and his/her attempts to mate are denied by the alpha pair, the subordinate wolf may leave the pack. However, leaving the safety of the group can prove to be a dangerous choice for the lone wolf, who may have to travel hundreds of miles to find a new territory and mate.

Gray wolves are known as keystone predators because they help maintain a balanced ecosystem. Their diet consists of ungulates (large hoofed mammals) such as elk, deer, moose, and caribou, as well as smaller mammals like beavers and rabbits. Because gray wolves eliminate only weak animals, herds become stronger and healthier as a whole. In fact, studies have shown that gray wolves have helped prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurological disease, in deer.

Furthermore, in Yellowstone Park, researchers found that the presence of wolves forced herds of elk to move around more frequently, thereby allowing aspen and willow trees to flourish in areas where they had previously been overgrazed. This, in turn, resulted in the return of beavers and riparian birds to the region.

Conservation Status

According to IUCN's Red List, gray wolf populations have been determined to be stable in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, and northern North America. So on a global level, the gray wolf is considered a species of least concern. However, the gray wolf is considered very vulnerable of extinction on a regional level, due to loss of habitat, trapping, shooting, and poisoning.

What You Can Do to Help

If you would like to help gray wolves, there are several things you can do. You can "adopt" a wolf through organizations like Defenders of Wildlife or the National Wildlife Federation. These organizations support several initiatives that help gray wolves, such as banning aerial gunning in Alaska, fighting to preserve federal protections, and helping ranchers find effective ways to protect their livestock so they refrain from killing wolves.

You can also help by supporting gray wolf habitat protection.

Gray Wolf Distribution

Gray Wolf Resources

Blog Posts about the Gray Wolf

About the Author

Abi Cushman is a lifelong animal lover and the editor-in-chief of Animal Fact Guide. She not only writes and edits articles, she also creates animal illustrations for the site.

Follow her on Twitter:@abicushman and Instagram: @abi.cushman

Last updated on August 24, 2014.

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Gray Wolf Facts | Grey Wolves | Timber Wolf

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Playing a major character in fairy tales and mythology throughout the ages, the gray wolf (or timber wolf) has been perceived in many different lights, from "Big, Bad Wolf" to spiritual being. In reality, gray wolves may not embody such extreme vices and virtues, but they do play a vital role in maintaining ecological harmony.

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Gray wolves range in color from grizzled gray or black to all-white. As apex predators, wolves play a key role in keeping ecosystems healthy

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Prairie dogs are considered a "keystone" species because their colonies create islands of habitat that benefit approximately 150 other species.

They are also a food source for many animals, including mountain plover, burrowing owl, Ferruginous hawks, swift fox and endangered black-footed ferrets. Many species, like black-footed ferrets, use their burrows as homes. Prairie dogs even help aerate and fertilize the soil, allowing a greater diversity of plants to thrive. But the widespread destruction of prairie dog colonies and the arrival of the exotic disease plague in the 1900s reduced prairie dogs by more than 95 percent.

Poisoning prairie dogs can be bad for the environment with impacts to native grassland birds, it is expensive, and rarely offers a long-term solution to conflicts with livestock operations. Defenders is working with national grasslands on nonlethal alternatives to poisoning.

Because prairie dogs hesitate to make homes in or go through tall grass, creating tall-grass buffers between prairie dog colonies and adjacent private properties is one way to keep prairie dogs out of where they are not wanted without resorting to killing them. Growing tall grass is difficult in areas frequented by grazing livestock, so Defenders has purchased and installed several miles of solar-powered portable electric fencing along buffer areas to keep livestock out, allowing the grass to grow tall.

Defenders also promotes relocation rather than poisoning of prairie dogs from conflict areas to core areas that are fully protected. We have helped move hundreds of prairie dogs out of harm's way and we hand-dig starter burrows to promote new colonies.

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Prairie dogs are considered a "keystone" species because their colonies create islands of habitat that benefit approximately 150 other species. They are also a food source for many animals, including mountain plover, burrowing owl, Ferruginous hawks, swift fox and endangered black-footed ferrets. Many species, like black-footed ferrets, use their burrows as homes.

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15 Facts About Bison (U.S. National Park Service)

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On May 9, 2016, President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law, officially making the American bison the national mammal of the United States. This majestic animal joins the ranks of the bald eagle as the official symbol of our country-and much like the eagle, it's one of the greatest conservation success stories of all time.

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Find out what makes bobcats such fiercely cool felines.

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texas parks and wildlife department (government agency)

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Bobcat City - Studying Urban Cats - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]

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Our pets are not the only cats prowling around urban areas at night. A research project is shedding new light on how bobcats live among us in the suburbs and the edges of our cities.

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The Bobcat is One Spring Loaded Predator!