U.S. Bald Eagle Numbers Making Recovery

A bald eagle soars above the Skagit River near Rockport, Wash. in this Jan. 21, 2994 file photo. The American bald eagle, once nearly extinct, is making a comeback. The government will confirm that when it takes the revered bird off a list of protected species. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) (Ted S. Warren - AP)

"The rescue of the bald eagle ... ranks among the greatest victories of American conservation," said John Flicker, president of the National Audubon Society, whose group's annual bird count shows "the eagle has recovered across America."

The bird, first declared endangered in 1967, was not always held with such affection. Over the decades, it was both revered and hated _ which almost brought its demise.

A majestic bird with a wing span that can extend more than seven feet and powerful talons that allow it to swoop down and grab its prey _ be it fish in a mountain lake or a rabbit or raccoon _ was viewed by many as a scavenger, nuisance and dangerous predator.

It was hunted for its feathers, shot from airplanes, the subject of a 50-cent bounty in Alaska, poisoned in some states and fed to hogs in others. Congress passed a law in 1940, still on the books, that made killing a bald eagle illegal.

But the bird's decline accelerated, thanks to DDT, the insecticide that began to be widely used in the 1940s to control mosquitoes. DDT seeped into lakes and streams and into fish, the eagle's favorite food, harming adult birds and their eggs.

When DDT was banned in 1972, the eagle's recovery began, slowly.

"George Wallace, vice president and chief conservation officer for the American Bird Conservancy, recalls when he was still in high school in the 1970s he saw his first bald eagle on Plum Island in Massachusetts. It was a rarity.

"Seeing a bald eagle in the mid '70s was a big deal," he said Wednesday. "It was something you really looked forward to seeing. Now, to be honest, bald eagles are pretty common."