The in Maitland, Florida, treats both Golden and Bald eagles for everything from broken bones to gunshot wounds. In honor of their 500th rehabilitated eagle, coming sometime in 2015, here are some facts and figures on North America鈥檚 only two eagle species.
1782 聽The year Congress approved the Bald Eagle as the national symbol.聽
1784 聽The year Benjamin Franklin called the Bald Eagle a 鈥渂ird of bad moral character . . . a rank coward.鈥
9 聽Number of countries that claim the Golden Eagle as their national bird: Austria, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Romania, and Yemen.
00听 Jersey number for Swoop, the Philadelphia Eagles鈥 mascot. The Bald Eagle鈥檚 diet consists of Falcons, cheesesteaks, and soft pretzels.
4,000 聽The approximate weight, in pounds, of the largest recorded Bald Eagle nest. The nest was also 20 feet high and 9 feet wide.
62聽 Mile-per-hour winds endured by Bald Eagles on Chesapeake Bay during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.
$500,000 聽Maximum fine for poaching a Bald Eagle.
1960s聽 When DDT decimated the Bald Eagles of California鈥檚 Channel Islands; Golden Eagles eventually took over the vacant territory.
16,571听 Number of genes in the Golden Eagle鈥檚 genome, the first avian genome to be fully sequenced.聽
400 聽In nanometers, the shortest wavelength a Golden Eagle can see, which means that UV paint is not an effective deterrent on wind turbines.
67聽 Number of Golden and Bald Eagles reported killed by wind turbines between 2008 and 2013.
$24,468,315 聽Economic losses, as estimated by the FAA, due to 174 aircraft strikes with Bald Eagles.
487聽 Estimated number of Bald Eagle nesting pairs left in the United States in the 1960s, when the species was listed as endangered.
10,000聽 Estimated number of Bald Eagle nesting pairs when the bird was delisted some 40 years later, in 2007.